Ultra-widefield indocyanine green angiography findings of vortex veins in central serous chorioretinopathy.

PURPOSE: To characterize choroidal circulation in the vortex veins in central serous chorioretinopathy.

STUDY

DESIGN

Single-center retrospective study.

METHODS

The study included 22 eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy from 22 patients with serous retinal detachment at the macula (18 men and four women, mean age 47.3 years). Ultra-widefield indocyanine green angiography was performed using Optos®California, and images were taken intermittently from the early to the late phase (> 20 min of contrast) to examine late images of the vortex veins. Findings in the affected and contralateral eyes were also compared.

RESULTS

In 13 of the 22 eyes, the vortex veins were hypofluorescent in all quadrants and continuous with the vortex ampullae. In five eyes, only the asymmetric dilated vortex vein was hypofluorescent, and in four eyes, the vortex veins were not hypofluorescent. Of the 22 contralateral eyes examined, 20 eyes exhibited identical findings in the vortex veins to those observed in the affected eye. Of the four eyes that did not exhibit hypofluorescence of the vortex veins in the affected eye, two eyes had partial hypofluorescence of some vortex veins in the contralateral eye, showing different findings.

CONCLUSIONS

In the late phase, some eyes showed hypofluorescence due to the washout of indocyanine green dye in the vortex veins and others did not, suggesting that obstruction of the scleral passage in the choroidal venous outflow is not the main cause of the syndrome.