Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To describe the presence of abnormal yellowish subretinal material in idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy. Methods: Retrospective clinical case series of 168 consecutive patients examined using biomicroscopy, optical coherence tomography, fundus photography, intravenous fluorescein angiography. Photocoagulation treatment was used in 44 patients. In all patients, a definite diagnosis of serous retinal detachment attributable to ICSC had been made in at least one eye on at least one occasion. Results: Of 168 patients with ICSC, 133 (79%) were men and 35 (21%) were women. The age–distribution was symmetric about a median of 45.2 y. The median duration of symptoms was 2 months (range 0.1–144 months). The amount of subretinal material in relation to standard photographs (grading levels absent, questionable, mild, moderate, and severe) was found to increase significantly with the duration of symptoms (p<0.001). The presence of subretinal material was not significantly related to age or sex. The deposits ranged in autofluorescence intensity from that of the unaffected surrounding extrafoveal fundus to levels 2–3 times higher than that. After resolution, patches of subretinal material were replaced by focal depigmentation without atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium. The severity of this phenomenon appeared to be proportional to the amount of subretinal material present at the time of its maximal extent. Conclusions: The longer the duration of symptoms, the more subretinal material is found in central serous chorioretinopathy. After resorption of this subretinal material, localized permanent depigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium may be seen.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: natural history • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: outcomes/complications • retinal detachment