Exposure to Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and age-related macular degeneration: The blue mountains eye study

Abstract

PURPOSE. To assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between exposure to Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the nested case-control sample drawn from the Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) cohort. METHODS. The BMES examined 3654 persons aged 49 to 97 years during 1992 through 1994 (BMES I survey). Survivors from this cohort (n = 2335; 75%) and 1174 persons who moved in this area or reached an eligible age were examined during 1997 through 2000 (BMES II survey, n = 3509). One hundred ninety-seven AMD cases and 433 control subjects matched for age, sex and smoking status, were drawn from the BMES II survey. Photographic macular grading followe..