Ying Hong,¹ Chun Zhang,¹ Liping Duan,² Wei Wang^1
1Peking University Eye Center, and ²Department of Gastroenterology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China

Aim: To determine the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with open angle glaucoma and control participants.
Methods: Twenty four Chinese patients with glaucoma were investigated, including 18 patients with primary open angle glaucoma, 4 with normal tension glaucoma, 1 with ocular hypertension, and 1 with pigmentary glaucoma. Twenty four age-matched control participants from the general ophthalmology clinic were also enrolled. ¹³C-urea breath test was performed to detect Helicobacter pylori infection.
Results: Positivity of Helicobacter pylori detected by ¹³C-urea breath test was significantly higher in patients with glaucoma (54.2%) than in control participants (20.8%) [p = 0.017]. The odds ratio for association between Helicobacter pylori and primary open angle glaucoma was 4.49, and the 95% confidence interval ranged from 1.26-16.01. The mean visual field defect and cup-disc ratio of patients with glaucoma showed no significant differences between patients who were Helicobacter pylori-positive or Helicobacter pylori-negative.
Conclusion: This study suggests that Helicobacter pylori infection might be associated with open angle glaucoma in Chinese patients.

Key words: Glaucoma, open-angle, Helicobacter pylori

Asian J Ophthalmol. 2007;9:205-208.