Abstract
Purpose: :
Helicobacter pylori
Methods: :
One hundred consecutive NTG patients (Group I) from an outpatient glaucoma clinic were enrolled. Medical records of 104 patients newly diagnosed with NTG (Group II) and 1116 consecutive normal controls who were recruited from the primary clinic for a routine health check-up were also reviewed to compare the results.Serum samples from all subjects were analyzed for the presence of H. pylori-specific immunoglobulin G antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The distributions of serologic H. pylori test results of the NTG patients and control subjects were compared. Possible associations between clinical phenotypes and positive serologic results were also assessed. Bilaterality of NTG patients was also analyzed.
Results: :
NTG patients had significantly more positive serologic results than did the normal controls (Group I: 72% vs. 28%, p = 0.018, 95% CI 1.10 ~ 2.72; Group II: 73.1% vs. 59.8%, p = 0.008, OR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.17-2.86). However, no significant association was found between clinical characteristics and a positive serologic result for H. pylori in NTG patients.
Conclusions: :
This study suggests that H. pylori infection may be associated with an increased risk of NTG. H. pylori may play a role in the development or progression of NTG as a secondary aggravating factor due to the coexistence of other main causes or may be the primary cause.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment