Ketoconazole May Help CSR Patients
by Dan Roberts
September 2006

Research has shown that corticosteroids produced by the body (endogenous) and administered externally (exogenous) can raise adrenaline levels, which can harm the central retina. Some people have high levels of endogenous steroids that can lead to a condition affecting several of us called central serous retinopathy (CSR), also called central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).

A small study is now enrolling patients to test the possibility of treating CSR with the drug ketoconazole, which supresses adrenal hormone production. It has been used to treat patients with Cushing's syndrome and prostate cancer, and now researchers are hoping that it can also help patients with acute CSR.

One of MD Support's professional advisors, K. Bailey Freund, M.D., has been testing the theory on subjects at his clinic in New York City. The title of the study is:

Pilot Study of the Treatment of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy with Ketoconazole (K.Bailey Freund, M.D., Hanna Rodriguez-Coleman, M.D., Viral Shah, M.D., Lawrence Yanuzzi, M.D., Richard F. Spaide, M.D., Cynthia Carvalho, M.D.)

If you have been diagnosed with CSR and live in or near New York City, you may want to volunteer for this research. Here is contact information:

Vitreous-Retina-Macula Consultants of New York
460 Park Ave, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 861-9797

For more about CSR, follow these links:

www.vrmny.com/pe/csc.html

www.revoptom.com/handbook/sect5m.htm

For information about other CSR research using the drug mifepristone (RU486), see:

www.mdsupport.org/library/csc.html