Choriocapillaris Ischemia at the Leakage Point of Patients With Acute Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

Purpose: We aimed to determine ischemia of the choriocapillaris at the leakage point of patients with acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) by optical coherence tomographic angiography (OCTA) Methods: A retrospective study of 38 eyes of 38 acute CSC patients with spontaneous complete resolution of subretinal fluid (SRF) was conducted and patients were followed for 3 months. Fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were performed at baseline. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and OCTA were collected at baseline and at follow-up visits. An age- and refractive error-matched control group consisted of 40 eyes of 40 healthy people. Results: The BCVA of patients significantly improved at 1 and 3 months. At baseline, all eyes showed a decreased choriocapillaris vessel density. The mean vessel density of superficial choroid (VDSC) at the leakage point area was 44.18 +/- 9.27, which increased to 54.31 +/- 9.70 at 1 month (p < 0.001) and to 55.19 +/- 6.46 at 3 months (p < 0.001). The mean vessel density ratio was 0.90 +/- 0.16 at baseline, which increased to 0.96 +/- 0.15 at 1 month (p = 0.037) and to 0.97 +/- 0.08 at 3 months (p = 0.016). The highest VDSC of patients was lower than that of normal control (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The VDSC at the leakage point of acute CSC patients was significantly thinner and regularly increased with the recovery process, which suggested that ischemia might be one of the initiating factors in the pathogenesis of acute CSC.

Automated summary

The study found that the choriocapillaris vessel density at the leakage point of patients with acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) was significantly reduced, but gradually increased with the recovery process, suggesting that ischemia might be one of the initiating factors in the pathogenesis of acute CSC.