Effects of propranolol in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy

Central serous retinopathy (CSR) is a frequent disease often involves healthy men and causes visual disturbances. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of propranolol tablet on improvement of CSR in referral cases to Farabi and Feiz hospitals in Isfahan in 2003-2004. This was a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. Patients with CSR referred to Farabi and Feiz hospitals were randomly divided into 2 groups: treatment group and control group, each one included 30 patients. Treatment group took propranolol tablets 20 mg twice a day, and control group took placebo tablets. Patients were examined weekly until complete improvement. Means of duration of disease and final visual acuity on the basis of lag mar were compared by t-test. Relative frequency of final visual acuity of 10/10 in the two groups was compared using chisquare tests. Two groups were comparable with respect to age, sex, involved eye, psychological tensions and clinical findings. The course of improvement in treatment group was 62 ± 29 days and in control group was 89 ± 44 days (P < 0.05). Means of final visual acuities were not significantly different between the two groups (0.98 ± 0.13 log mar in treatment group compared to 0.97 ± 0.18 log mar in control group). Relative frequency of vision < 10/10 was 30% in control group and 3.3% in treatment group (P < 0.01). Duration of disease and need to laser therapy in patients with CSR were decreased by the use of propranolol but it had no effect on the amount of final vision. Because the patients are mostly in the years of active life, propranolol use is recommended for these patients.