title: Central serous chorioretinopathy and risk of ischaemic stroke: a population-based cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a common maculopathy that features choroidal circulatory disturbance. This population-based cohort study aimed to explore the relationship between CSCR and the future development of ischaemic stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were obtained from Taiwan's national health insurance research database. From 2000 to 2007, 1814 patients with newly diagnosed CSCR were eligible for inclusion in the study cohort. Using stratified random sampling, 9648 enrollees matched with the study subjects in terms of sex, age, monthly income, geographical location and time of enrolment were selected as the control group. Stroke-free survival analysis was assessed using a Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to calculate the HR of ischaemic stroke for the two groups after adjusting for possible confounding variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the sampled patients, 45 (2.5%) from the CSCR cohort and 157 (1.6%) from the control group developed ischaemic stroke during a mean follow-up period of 3.9 ± 2.2 years. CSCR patients had a significantly higher incidence of ischaemic stroke than those without a diagnosis of CSCR (p=0.003). After adjusting for age, sex and chronic comorbidities at baseline, CSCR patients were found to have a 1.56-fold (95% CI 1.11 to 2.18, p=0.010) greater risk of a subsequent ischaemic stroke than the matched controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CSCR is an independent indicator for the increased risk of subsequent ischaemic stroke development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, National Yang-Ming University Hospital, Yilan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Der-Chong
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Chin-Chou
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Shih-Jen
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Pesus
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Chia-Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Wan-Leong
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Po-Hsun
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Tseng-Ji
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shing-Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jaw-Wen
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hsin-Bang
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Leu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D056833:Central Serous Chorioretinopathy / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult