Serum cortisol and testosterone levels in idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy

CONTEXT: The preferential occurrence of idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy (ICSC) in males with a typical Type A personality and behavior and a relative absence in females is a possible indicator towards the role of serum cortisol and /or the male sex hormone testosterone. AIMS: To study levels of cortisol and testosterone in ICSC. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Case-control study in a tertiary care teaching hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted on 23 cases of ICSC. Twelve patients with unilateral sudden painless loss of vision of less than one month duration served as controls. Serum cortisol and testosterone levels at 8.00 a.m. were estimated by radioimmunoassay in both groups. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 13.0 software. Independent Sample t-test was applied to analyze statistical significance between the two groups. RESULTS: Mean age of patients with ICSC was 37.1 ± 9.7 years and 96% of the patients were males. Mean serum cortisol levels were significantly higher (P=0.002) in patients with ICSC i.e., 495.02 ± 169.47 nano moles/liter (nmol/L) as compared to controls i.e., 362.25 ± 51.54 nmol/L. Mean serum testosterone levels were 3.85 ± 1.81 nano grams/ml (ngm/ml) and 4.23 ± 1.89 ngm/ml in cases and controls respectively and the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.58). CONCLUSIONS: ICSC is associated with elevated 8.00 a.m. serum cortisol levels. However, mean serum testosterone levels in both patients of ICSC and controls were within normal range.