Objective To quantitatively evaluate the changes of choroidal biomarkers in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and preliminarily explore its pathogenesis. MethodsClinical cross-sectional study. From July 2021 to December 2022, 74 eyes of 65 patients with CSC (CSC group) confirmed by ophthalmic examination at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University were included in the study. Among them, 46 patients (51 eyes) were male, 19 patients (23 eyes) were female. The duration from the onset of symptoms to the time of treatment was less than or equal to 3 months. A control group consisted of 40 healthy volunteers (74 eyes) matched in age and gender. Among them, 26 patients (50 eyes) were male, and 14 patients (24 eyes) were female. Using VG200D from Microimaging (Henan) Technology Co., Ltd., macular scanning source light coherence tomography angiography was performed, with scanning range 6 mm × 6 mm. According to the division of the diabetes retinopathy treatment research group, the choroid within 6 mm of the macular fovea was divided into three concentric circles centered on the macular fovea, namely, the central area with a diameter of 1 mm, the macular area with a diameter of 1-3 mm, and the surrounding area of the fovea with a diameter of 3-6 mm. The device comes with software to record the three-dimensional choroidal vascular index (CVI), choroidal vascular volume (CVV), perfusion area of the choroidal capillary layer (CFA), choroidal thickness (CT), and three-dimensional CVI, CVV, and CT in the upper, temporal, lower, and subnasal quadrants within 6 mm of the fovea. Quantitative data between the two groups were compared using an independent sample t-test. Qualitative data comparison line χ2 inspection. The value of receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis in predicting the occurrence of CSC, including CVI, CVV, CFA, and CT. ResultsCompared with the control group, the CVI (t=3.133, 4.814), CVV (t=7.504, 9.248), and CT (t=10.557, 10.760) in the central and macular regions of the affected eyes in the CSC group significantly increased, while the CFA (t=－8.206, －5.065) significantly decreased, with statistically significant differences (P＜0.05); CVI (t=7.129), CVV (t=10.020), and CT (t=10.488) significantly increased within 6 mm of the central fovea, while CFA (t=－2.548) significantly decreased, with statistically significant differences (P＜0.05). The CVI (t=4.980, 4.201, 4.716, 8.491), CVV (t=9.014, 7.156, 7.719, 10.730), and CT (t=10.077, 8.700, 8.960, 11.704) in the upper, temporal, lower, and lower nasal quadrants within 6 mm of the central fovea were significantly increased, with statistically significant differences (P＜0.05). In the CSC group, the maximum CVI and CVV were (0.39±0.10)% and (1.09±0.42) mm3, respectively, on the nasal side of the affected eye. Upper CT was (476.02±100.89) μm. The nasal side CVI, CVV, and CT have the largest changes. The ROC curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve of CT, CVV, and CVI within 6 mm of the central region, macular region, and fovea was over than 0.5. Subcentral CT was the most specific for the diagnosis of CSC. ConclusionChoroidal biomarkers CVI, CVV, and CT in CSC patients increase, while CFA decreases. Central CT is the most specific for the diagnosis of CSC.
Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a common macular disease, mainly manifested as a plasma detachment of the macula. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective treatment for CSC, but with the shortage of the photosensitizer Verteporfin, the effective treatment of CSC has become a common concern for ophthalmologists. In this paper, based on the latest research results on the relationship between the changes in the thickness of the outer nuclear layer and the natural course of the disease and PDT therapy, we propose that patients with CSC should receive effective treatment as early as possible to prevent irreversible damage to visual function due to the thinning of the outer nuclear layer. In addition to PDT, it is recommended that laser photocoagulation or subthreshold micropulse laser treatment of the leaking spot should be considered first, depending on the presence of the leaking spot and its location in relation to the macula center. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy can be considered if there is a combination of choroidal neovascularization and/or polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Other treatments that have not been demonstrated to be effective in evidence-based medicine are not recommended.
Objective To observe the morphologic alterations of retina pigment epithelial around fluorescein leakage site using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) before and after laser coagulation. Methods Twenty-four eyes of 24 consecutive patients with unilateral acute CSC who underwent laser photocoagulation (wave length: 561 nm, energy: 80-100 mW, spot diamteter: 100 μm, exposure time: 0.1 s) were enrolled in this retrospective study. The patients included 22 males and 2 females, with an average age of (39.2±7.2) years and an average duration of (1.1±0.6) months. The fluorescein leakage outside the foveal avascular zone and serous retinal detachment were found in all the eyes by fluorescein fundus angiography (FFA) and SD-OCT. Twenty-six leakage sites were observed in 24 eyes on FFA. There were 5 smoky leakage points (19.2%), 21 inky leakage points (80.8%). The retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) layer at leakage points were scanned by SD-OCT before and at 2 weeks, 2 months after treatment. SD-OCT showed that the RPE abnormalities were detected at all of the fluorescein leakage points, including serous pigment epithelial detachment (PED) in 16 leakage points (64.5%), protruding RPE in 5 leakage points (19.5%), and irregular RPE in 5 leakage points (19.2%). The morphologic alterations of RPE around fluorescein leakage point before and after laser coagulation were observed. Results At 2 weeks after laser photocoagulation, PED existed in 7 leakage points (26.9%), protruding RPE in 3 leakage points (11.5%), and irregular RPE in 16 leakage points (61.5%). At 2 months after laser photocoagulation, protruding RPE existed in 3 leakage points (11.5%), and irregular RPE in 5 leakage points (19.2%), including RPE defect in 2 leakage points. And there were undetectable RPE abnormalities in other 16 leakage points (61.5%). Conclusions In acute CSC, SD-OCT shows that morphologic features of the RPE layer are changed, including PED, protruding RPE, irregular RPE around the leakage point. After laser photocoagulation the abnormalities of RPE can also be altered from PED to irregular RPE, and RPE defect is observed in restricted regions.
Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is one of the representative pachychoroid spectrum disease. Although fundus fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography can be used as the gold standard for the diagnosis of CSC, they are invasive examinations, which may bring certain risks in clinical application and cannot help us obtain quantitative parameters. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), as a non-invasive and quantitative examination, is an important imaging tool for understanding the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of CSC. With the advancement of OCTA, the swept-source OCTA has a satisfying scanning depth, a wider scanning range and a higher resolution. The development of OCTA broadens the horizons of the pathogenesis of CSC, promotes the understanding of the pathophysiology of CSC, and sheds new light for its clinical diagnosis and treatment. Based on OCTA, the choroid and retina in eyes with CSC are presented with qualitative and quantitative changes in vascular system. OCTA-guided CSC treatment and the discovery of prognostic markers based on OCTA challenge the application of traditional imaging techniques in CSC. With the continuous improvement and progress of OCTA technology, traditional angiography combined with OCTA will bring great benefits to the diagnosis and treatment of CSC. This review summarizes the quantitative application of OCTA in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of CSC.
ObjectiveTo observe the correlation between obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).MethodsFrom October 2016 to December 2018, 50 cases of CSC patients (CSC group) and 50 healthy people (control group) matched by age and sex who were diagnosed in the ophthalmological examination of Xi’an No.3 Hospital were included in the study. According to the course of the disease, CSC was divided into acute phase and chronic phase, with 20 and 30 cases respectively. The average age (Z=1.125) and body mass index (BMI) (Z=0.937) of the two groups were compared, and the difference was not statistically significant (P＞0.05); the age of patients with different courses of CSC (Z=1.525) and gender composition ratio (χ2=0.397) and BMI (Z=1.781) were compared, the difference was not statistically significant (P＞0.05). The Berlin questionnaire was used to assess the OSAS risk of subjects in the CSC group and the control group; polysomnography was used to monitor the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and minimum blood oxygen saturation (MOS) during night sleep. OSAS diagnostic criteria: typical sleep snoring, daytime sleepiness, AHI (times/h) value ≥ 5. The severity of OSAS was classified as mild OSAS: 5≤AHI＜15; moderate OSAS: 15≤AHI＜30; severe OSAS: AHI≥30. Non-normally distributed measurement data were compared by rank sum test; count data were compared by χ2 test. Spearman correlation analysis was performed on the correlation between OSAS and CSC.ResultsThe AHI data in the CSC group and the control group were 17.46±3.18 and 15.72±4.48 times/h, respectively; the MOS were (83.48±4.68)% and (87.40±3.82)%, respectively; those diagnosed with OSAS were respectively 36 (72.00%, 36/50) and 13 (26.00%, 13/50) cases. AHI (Z=0.312), MOS (Z=0.145), and OSAS incidence (χ2=21.17) were compared between the two groups of subjects, and the differences were statistically significant (P=0.028, 0.001,＜0.001). The AHI of acute and chronic CSC patients were 15.95±3.02 and 18.47±2.92 times/h; the MOS were (86.10±11.07)% and (81.73±4.58)%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in AHI (Z=0.134) and MOS (Z=0.112) in patients with different course of disease (P=0.005, 0.001). The results of Spearman correlation analysis showed that OSAS and CSC were positively correlated (r=0.312, P=0.031).ConclusionOSAS may be a risk factor for the onset of CSC.
ObjectiveTo compare the differences of optic nerve head (ONH) parameters and the thickness of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (CP-RNFL) between acute Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (VKH) and acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) patients.MethodsRetrospective clinical case control analysis. This study included 38 eyes of 20 acute VKH patients (VKH group) and 37 eyes of 37 acute CSC patients (CSC group). Seventy five eyes of 57 normal healthy subjects, matching patients with age and gender, were collected as control group. The disc RPE angle, the thickness of average CP-RNFL, the nasal, superior, temporal and inferior quadrant CP-RNFL thickness, and ONH parameters including optic disc area, cup area, rim area, C/D area ratio, linear CD ratio (CDR), vertical CDR were measured by 3D-OCT. Analysis of variance was performed for comparison among three groups. Minimum significant difference t test was performed for comparison between two groups.ResultsThe differences of ONH parameters between VKH group and CSC group: 29 eyes of VKH group appeared retinal detachment next to disc, only 12 eyes appeared in CSC group. Twenty one eyes of VKH group appeared optic disc hyperemia while none in CSC group. The three groups’ disc RPE angles were (138.62±11.96)°, (154.09±5.85)° and (153.41±5.77)°. VKH group were significantly smaller than CSC group (t=－2.05, P=0.00) and control group (t=－1.68, P=0.00), while there was no significant difference between CSC group and control group (t=－1.88, P=0.72). The optic cup area and rim area were significantly bigger in VKH group than in CSC group (t=4.61, 2.71; P=0.00, 0.01), and the thickness of mean CP-RNFL, all quadrants of CP-RNFL were significantly thicker in VKH group than in CSC group (t=6.25, 4.40, 3.53, 5.48, 2.69; P=0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.01).ConclusionCompared with the acute CSC, VKH patients are likely to appear retinal detachment next to disc, their disc RPE angles are smaller, their optic cup area and rim area are bigger, and their CP-RNFL thickness are thicker.
ObjectiveTo observe the characteristics of blue light(BLAF) versus near infrared wavelength (IRAF) fundus autofluorescence in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) patients. MethodsSeventy-seven eyes of 81 patients diagnosed with CSC were enrolled in this study. According to the duration of disease, patients were divided into acute CSC group and chronic or recurrent CSC group. All patients were examined with fundus fluorescein angiography, including BLAF and IRAF. There were forty-six patients (47 eyes) with acute, thirty-one patients (34 eyes) with chronic or recurrent CSC. The characteristics of BLAF and IRAF in CSC were compared. ResultsIn acute CSC, there were nineteen eyes (40.4%) showed scattered hyper-fluorescence corresponding to the leaking points, eleven eyes (23.4%) showed mottled hypo-fluorescence in BLAF; while 17 eyes (36.2%) showed normal change corresponding to the leaking points. There were 35 eyes can be observed serous retinal detachments in the BLAF images, 21 eyes (60.0%) showed hypo-fluorescence and 14 eyes (40.0%) showed hyper-fluorescence. In the IRAF images, 25 eyes (53.2%) showed mottled fluorescence corresponding to the leaking points, 11 eyes (23.4%) presented with scattered hyper-fluorescent spots and normal fluorescence. The serous retinal detachments of 26 eyes exhibited hypo-fluorescence in the IRAF images. In chronic or recurrent CSC, 19 eyes (55.9%) showed scattered hyper-fluorescence corresponding to the leakage points; followed by no abnormal change in 10 eyes, accounting for 29.4%; few showed mottled hypo-fluorescence (5 eyes 14.7%). There were 35 eyes (41.2%) can be observed serous retinal detachments in the BLAF images. IRAF mainly displayed mottled hypo-fluorescence (22 eyes, 64.7%), ten eyes (29.4%) presented with scattered hyper-fluorescence and 2 eyes (5.8%) presented without abnormal change. The serous retinal detachments of 3 eyes (8.8%) exhibited hypo-fluorescence in the IRAF images. ConclusionsFor acute CSC, a variety of fluorescence were showed in BLAF images and the proportion of the various fluorescences was similar; hypo-fluorescence was showed in the IRAF images. For chronic CSC, hyper-fluorescence was showed in BLAF while hypo-fluorescence in the IRAF images.
Multicenter randomized controlled studies can recruit more subjects in a relatively short period of time, avoiding the bias of single research institution studies, resulting in reliable conclusions and providing strong guidance to clinical practice. They are the most scientific and most reliable methods to evaluate clinical researches. However, there are few multicenter clinical trials in China as Chinese doctors are often trapped in difficulties in clinical research, including imperfect research system, lack of experience, capital investment deficient, the tension in the doctor-patient relationship and so on. Although the above problems are related to medical system architecture of our country in a certain extent, compared with the overseas, we also have our own advantages, such as resource of our patients, doctors, and diseases type. Pay attention to discovering of new type of diseases, looking for genetics discipline, and exploring new medical technology is an important task of clinical research. We have plenty of high level ophthalmology centers at present, which provide favorable conditions for launching multi-center clinical trial studies. We have good reasons to believe that, if we can effectively exploit the resources in our hands, carefully observe and discover clinical problems, there will be more convincing clinical results present in the world after bring up hypothesis boldly while prove it conscientiously and carefully.
ObjectiveTo observe the change of retinal microstructures and the association between visual outcome with these microstructures in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) after laser treatment.MethodsThis is a retrospective study. From April 2016 to February 2017, a total of 52 eyes from 52 patients who underwent conventional laser treatment (27 eyes) or subthreshold laser treatment (25 eyes) for CSC and the sub-retinal fluid (SRF) absorbed completely were included in this study. The were 46 patients (46 eyes) and 6 males (6 eyes), with the mean age of 43.92±8.62 years. The healthy fellow eyes (49 eyes) were selected as control. All patients were underwent BCVA and SD-OCT examination. According to the OCT images for all patients, the thickness of central foveal (CFT), outer nuclear (ONL), inner segment (IS), outer segment (OS) were measured. The status of ellipsoid zone (EZ), interdigitation zone (IZ) and RPE were also evaluated at fovea. Comparing the change of SD-OCT microstructures in two time points, the first visit after SRF absorbed and the last visit respectively. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the relation between BCVA and ONL, IS, OS.ResultsAt the first visit after SRF absorbed, compared with control eyes, the thickness of CFT (182.55±24.14 μm), ONL (72.86±17.39 μm), IS (41.23±5.14 μm), OS (18.52±10.26 μm) in CSC eyes were decreased (P＜0.001). Meanwhile, the mean BCVA of CSC eyes was 81.27±6.39 letters, which was also significantly decreased comparing with control eyes (P＜0.001). At last visit, the thickness of CFT, ONL, IS, OS were 195.19±22.10, 75.44±16.33, 44.56±4.09, 26.60±11.39 μm, and the mean BCVA was 85.50±5.95 letters. All recovered significantly comparing with first visit (P＜0.05). At first visit, the BCVA of patients with integrate EZ (83.38±5.78 letters) was significantly better than the BCVA of patients with unintegrated EZ (77.90±5.97 letters) (P=0.003). And the BCVA of patients with smooth RPE (82.72±5.95 letter) was also significantly better than the BCVA of patients with rough RPE (78.00±6.31 letters) (P=0.020). The result of Spearman correlation analysis showed that the thickness of OS was positively correlated to BCVA at two time points (r=0.423, 0.416; P=0.002, 0.002).ConclusionsIn CSC, the thickness of ONL, IS, OS were decreased, and the integrality of EZ, IZ, the smooth of RPE were disrupted in different extent. After laser treatment, with retinal reattachment, those microstructures including ONL, IS, OS, EZ, IZ recovered slowly. The thickness of OS, the integrality of EZ and the smooth of RPE were associated with visual acuity.
Objective To observe the characteristics of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for leakage point in acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Methods A total of 21 acute CSC patients (21 eyes) were enrolled in this retrospective study, including 17 men (17 eyes) and 4 women (5 eyes). The mean age was (47.3±8.8) years (range 35 - 66 years). The mean duration was (1.6±0.8) months (range 0.5 - 3.0 months). All patients were underwent mydriatic fundus photography, SD-OCT examination and fluorescein fundus angiography (FFA). SD-OCT and FFA images were carefully compared to observe the SD-OCT examination characteristics of fluorescence leakage point. Results 21/21 eyes had one fluorescein leakage point. In addition to serous retinal detachment, leakage point in the SD-OCT examination showed retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) protrusion in 10 eyes (47.6％), RPE detachment in 7 eyes (33.3％), highly re?ective areas suggesting ?brinous exudate in the subretinal space in 3 eyes (14.3％), and RPE defect in 1 eye (4.8％). Conclusion The SD-OCT characteristics of acute CSC include RPE protrusion, RPE detachment, highly re?ective areas suggesting ?brinous exudate in the subretinal space and RPE defect.