Background: To clarify the role of choroidal vascular abnormalities in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) in active stage, remission, and recurrence.
Methods: Indocyanine green angiography and fluorescein angiography were performed in 105 eyes (104 patients) with active CSC. Forty-six patients were followed up for 6 to 48 months (mean +/- standard deviation, 22.5 +/- 8.9 months) with repeated angiography (mean +/- standard deviation, 3.5 +/- 1.5 times). Indocyanine green angiography and fluorescein angiography also were performed during remission in all 46 eyes with CSC and during recurrent CSC in 6 eyes. Unaffected fellow eyes underwent angiographic examinations in all patients.
Results: In active CSC, indocyanine green angiography showed a choroidal filling delay (71%), venous dilation (61%), and focal choroidal hyperfluorescence (96%) surrounding leakage from the retinal pigment epithelium. Focal choroidal hyperfluorescence was present in unaffected areas of affected eyes (55%). The choroidal venous dilation (36%) and choroidal hyperfluorescence (62%) were noted even in unaffected fellow eyes. These choroidal abnormalities persisted during remission after leakage ceased throughout the follow-up period. In the six patients with recurrent CSC, new leakage developed in the areas of persistent choroidal hyperfluorescence. Central serous chorioretinopathy developed in the unaffected fellow eye in one of these six patients.
Conclusion: Choroidal vascular abnormalities persist in both eyes even after leakage from the retinal pigment epithelium ceases. Central serous chorioretinopathy may recur in areas of choroidal vascular abnormalities.