Visual Functions after Laser Photocoagulation in Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

Dagmar Hejcmanová,Eva Rencová,Markéta Macháčková,Hana Langrová,Georgia Kyprianou

doi:10.14712/18059694.2016.73

Abstract

The authors evalute the visual functions of patients with unilateral central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and compare them with their non-affected eye and with a control group. Fourteen patients with CSC treated with direct laser-photocoagulation were examined preoperatively and followed-up, up to 2 years postoperatively. Baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) of both eyes of patients was significantly lower in comparison with the controls. BCVA and CS in affected eyes were significantly lower compared to the fellow eye of patients. The final BCVA and CS of patients did not differ significantly from the controls, except CS of affected eyes in the spatial frequency of 3.69 c/deg. Two years after laser treatment, there were only nonsignificant differences of both photopic full-field electroretinography (phERG) and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) responses between the treated, the nonaffected eye of the patients and the control group with exception of a significantly longer P1 implicit time in the parafoveolar region in affected eyes. Colour discrimination was normal in 85.8% of affected eyes of the patients. Despite a significant improvement of macular function in CSC eyes, functional examination methods do not prove complete resolution of function 2 years after laser-treatment.

Highlights

Idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a disease first described by Albrecht von Graefe in 1866 as “recurrent central retinitis”
Restoration of the detached retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was reached in 14 eyes of 14 patients (100 %) after laser treatment
Recurrences were not noted in any patient and fellow eyes of all patients remained unaffected within the time period of two years

Summary

Introduction

Idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a disease first described by Albrecht von Graefe in 1866 as “recurrent central retinitis”. Unfavourable prognosis is attributed to recurrence of attacks or less frequently, to the prolonged or chronic course of the disease This leads to irreversible structural changes of the macula with a permanent decrease of visual acuity. One of the treatment methods of acute idiopathic CSC in strictly indicated cases is direct laser photocoagulation at the source of the fluid leakage from the choroid under the retina. This significantly reduces the duration of ablation of the neuroretina and prevents development of chronic changes due to CSC with irreversible anatomical and functional damage [3, 17, 30, 37]

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