Evaluation of central serous chorioretinopathy with optical coherence tomography

PURPOSE: To evaluate central serous chorioretinopathy with optical coherence tomography during the acute phase and after resolution of the acute phase. METHODS: In a prospective study, 23 consecutive eyes of 23 patients (19 men, four women; mean age +/- SD, 46.0 + 8.1 years; range, 29 to 60 years) with central serous chorioretinopathy were examined with optical coherence tomography during the acute phase and after resolution of the retinal detachment. After the initial examination, the patients were reexamined for 3 to 6 months (mean, 4.7 +/- 1.1 months). Cross-sectional retinal images through the center of the fovea were obtained from all eyes by optical coherence tomography. The retinal thickness at the center of the fovea was measured. The difference between the retinal thickness during the acute phase and after resolution of the retinal detachment was statistically analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. We also examined a grayish-white lesion that corresponded to the leakage point in fluorescein angiography in four eyes. RESULTS: In the acute phase, neurosensory retina was thickened within the area of serous retinal detachment in all 23 eyes. The detached retina was thicker than the reattached retina after resolution of the retinal detachment in all eyes. The retinal thickness at the center of the fovea during the acute phase (range, 157 to 236 mu m; mean +/- SD, 196.9 +/- 22.6 mu m) was significantly thickened compared with that after resolution (range, 105 to 152 mu m; mean +/- SD, 124.8 +/- 10.1 mu m; P<.0001, Wilcoxon test). In the acute phase, areas of low reflectivity localized within the detached retina were observed in 18 of the 23 eyes. In the area of the grayish-white lesion, optical coherence tomography showed a moderately reflective mass bridging the detached neuro sensory retina and retinal pigment epithelium in the four eyes; the outer layer of the detached retina was more highly reflective in these eyes. The retinal pigment epithelium was focally detached beneath the subretinal reflective mass in three of the four eyes. CONCLUSIONS: In all eyes studied, neurosensory retina was thickened within the area of serous retinal detachment in the acute phase of central serous chorioretinopathy. The grayish-white lesion seems to be a fibrinous exudate that accumulates in the subretinal space and infiltrates into the outer retina. (Am J Ophthalmol 2000;129:16-20. (C) 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.)