Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To investigate the autofluorescence characteristics of central serous chorioretinopathy. Methods: Patients were imaged with autofluorescence photography, fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography. The mean and standard deviation of the grayscale values from a 100 pixel diameter circle centered on the fovea were obtained and normalized with the level of autofluorescence of the posterior pole. Results: There were 30 patients, 23 males (76.7%) and 7 females (23.3%) with a median visual acuity of 20/25 and a range of 20/15 to 20/400. Stepwise linear regression which included individual fixed effects found that normalized central macular autofluorescence (p<.001), pigment mottling in the fovea (p=.045), subfoveal fluid detected by optical coherence tomography (p=.033) and the standard deviation of the central macular autofluorescence (p=.025) produced a highly significant model (R2=.92, p<<.001). Increasing levels of autofluorescence were correlated with accumulation of material on the outer surface of the retina as seen by optical coherence tomography. Decreased central macular autofluorescence, particularly in those eyes with central geographic retinal pigment epithelial atrophy, was associated with poor visual acuity. Conclusions: This study established that autofluorescence changes occur in central serous with explicit patterns, can be measured in a non–invasive manner, and this information can be used to estimate the damage induced by central serous chorioretinopathy with a high degree of statistical significance. The material on the outer surface of the retina may represent accumulation of photoreceptor outer segments secondary to the lack of direct apposition and phagocytosis by the retinal pigment epithelium.
Keywords: imaging/image analysis: clinical • macula/fovea • retinal pigment epithelium