Comparative study on retinal microvasculature changes between acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Abstract

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is generally a common fundus disease in young and middle-aged Asian men. Acute and chronic CSC can lead to different degrees of injury to the retinal blood flow. This study aims to observe and compare the blood flow density in different retinal capillary layers in patients with acute and chronic CSC using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) technology. Twelve patients with acute CSC and 8 patients with chronic CSC including 12 eyes with acute CSC (acute CSC eye group), 11 eyes with chronic CSC (chronic CSC eye group), and 17 normal eyes (normal eye group) were enrolled in this study. All patients underwent 3 mm×3 mm, 6 mm×6 mm macular OCTA scanning. The retinal microvascu-lature was divided into superficial vascular complexes (SVC), intermediate capillary plexuses (ICP), and deep capillary plexuses (DCP) using the projection resolved-OCTA algorithm. Inner retina includes SVC, ICP, and DCP. The vessel density in each retinal layer and the inner retina were calculated and compared. Macular OCTA scanning of 3 mm×3 mm showed that there was no significant difference in blood flow density of SVC and ICP among the 3 groups (both P>0.05); blood flow density of DCP and inner retina in the chronic CSC eye group was significantly lower than that in the acute CSC eye group and the normal eye group (all P<0.05); there was no significant difference in retinal blood flow density of different layer between the acute CSC eye group and the normal eye group (all P>0.05). Macular OCTA scanning of 6 mm×6 mm showed that inner retinal blood flow density of the chronic CSC eye group was significantly lower than that of the acute CSC eye group and the normal eye group (both P<0.05); there was no significant difference in blood flow density of SVC among the 3 groups (P>0.05). The vessel density of DCP and inner retina in the eyes with chronic CSC are significantly reduced, which may result in impaired visual function. Therefore, we recommend that patients with acute CSC should be properly treated to avoid progressing into chronic CSC.