Choroidal vascular flow area in central serous chorioretinopathy using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography

PURPOSE. To report the choroidal vascular flow area in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) compared with healthy subjects and unaffected fellow eyes using swept-source (SS) optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography. METHODS. Prospective case series of 19 eyes of 19 consecutive patients affected by CSC, compared with 15 unaffected fellow eyes and 20 eyes of 10 healthy subjects. Patients underwent SS-OCT angiography in order to evaluate the choroidal vascular flow area of choriocapillaris (CC) and deeper choroidal layers. RESULTS. The choroidal vascular flow area was higher in eyes with CSC than in control eyes (53.4 ± 5.8% vs. 49.45 ± 8.16%; P = 0.0001). Within the choroid of CSC patients choroidal vascular flow area of the CC was significantly lower than the deeper level (50.97 ± 2.8% vs. 54.22 ± 6.3%; P = 0.025). There were no differences within the choroid of control eyes. The choroidal vascular flow area at the level of the CC was higher in the unaffected fellow eye (50.74 ± 0.9%; P = 0.019) than in control eyes. Choroidal vascular flow area of unaffected fellow eyes did not differ from CSC eyes (P = 0.17). The choroidal vascular flow area at the level of the CC was higher in the CSC eyes (P = 0.0009) compared with unaffected fellow eyes. CONCLUSIONS. Choroidal vascular flow area is larger in CSC eyes compared with control eyes. However, within the choroid of eyes with CSC, there might be some differences in flow area between CC and deeper choroidal levels. This difference might be secondary to a compensatory mechanism of the choroid.