CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY: High-Resolution Imaging of Asymptomatic Fellow Eyes Using Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy.

PURPOSE: To investigate cone density in the asymptomatic fellow eye of patients with unilateral central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).

METHODS

Seventeen asymptomatic fellow eyes of patients with unilateral CSCR and 17 eyes of aged-matched and gender-matched healthy controls underwent adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy. Cone density and spacing were assessed at the fovea. Clinical and multimodal imaging findings were also recorded.

RESULTS

In the CSCR group, the patient mean age was 48.9 ± 9.8 years. The mean (±SD) subfoveal choroidal thickness was 417.8 ± 125.2 µm. The foveal external limiting membrane and ellipsoid zone were intact in all patients. Adaptive optics fundus imaging showed a significant decrease in cone density at 2° of eccentricity nasal and temporal to the fovea in asymptomatic fellow eyes of patients with unilateral CSCR compared with controls (P = 0.001 and P = 0.027, respectively). No statistically significant difference in cone density was found at 4° of eccentricity nasal and temporal to the fovea between both groups.

CONCLUSION

Asymptomatic fellow eyes of patients with unilateral CSCR showed a reduced density of foveal cones in the absence of a decreased visual acuity and photoreceptor line disruption on optical coherence tomography. These results suggest that the photoreceptors could be damaged independently of the occurrence of a serous retinal detachment.