Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is one of the main causes of impaired visual function in middle-aged men. CSC is characterized by a thickening of the choroid and hyperpermeability of the choroidal vessels, resulting in serous subretinal fluid. The pathogenesis of CSC is not fully understood. Since the introduction of indocyanine green angiography, the detection of the influence of the vortex veins in CSC, it has been established that the presence of a thick choroid may be caused by congestion of the vortex vein, resulting in new choroidal drainage through a vortex vein anastomosis. The study of vortex venous blood hemodynamics has elucidated the new concept of the pathogenesis of CSC, deepened our understanding of the disease, and provided a theoretical basis for new treatment methods. With a better understanding of the pathogenesis of CSC, we expect to be able to stratify patients at risk in the clinic and evaluate optimized treatment options for patients with CSC
ObjectiveTo observe the changes of chorioidal thickness (ChT) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) in different mode of vortic venous dilation. MethodsA prospective cross-sectional observational study. A total of 80 patients with 89 eyes (CSC group) diagnosed in Department of Ophthalmology, General Hospital of Central Theater Command from April to October 2023 were included in the study. Among them, 64 males had 71 eyes and 17 females had 18 eyes. A total of 15 healthy volunteers matched in age and sex were selected as the control group. Among them, 14 men had 26 eyes and one woman had two eyes. The macular region was examined by ultra-wide-angle scanning frequency source optical coherence tomography (OCTA) with BM400K BMizar made by TowardPi (Beijing) Medical Technology Co., LTD. Scanning rate 1 536 A scanning×1 280 B scanning, scanning range 24 mm×20 mm. The accompanying software delineated nine subfields (superotemporal, upper, superonasal, temporal, central, nasal, inferotemporal, lower, inferonasal regions) to record ChT. En-face OCTA mode was utilized to observe the anatomy and functional anastomosis of the vortex veins above and below the choroidal blood layer. Eyes in the CSC group were further categorized into upper-dominant, symmetrical, and lower-dominant groups based on the difference in vortex vein expansion shown in the choroidal layer of the en-face image, with 36, 35, and 18 eyes respectively. Statistical analysis included the use of independent samples t-test or Mann-Whitney test for comparison between two groups, one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis H test for comparison between multiple groups, and the χ test or Fisher test for categorical variables. ResultsCompared with the control group, ChT in the CSC group was thickened in the foveal area and different areas of the macula, with the greatest difference in the fovea, and the differences were statistically significant (t=3.345, 5.018, 2.902, 4.667, 7.276, 3.307, 3.868, 4.795, 2.583; P＜0.05). Compared with the ChT of the control group, there was no statistically significant difference in the superotemporal, region of the upper-dominant group (t=1.510, P＞0.05); in other regions, the differences were statistically significant (t=3.207, 5.163, 2.526, 4.310, 6.285, 2.656, 3.812, 2.173; P＜0.05). The differences in the foveal area and other areas in the symmetrical group were statistically significant (t=4.488, 5.554, 3.457, 5.314, 7.256, 3.507, 5.584, 6.019, 2.994; P＜0.05). In the superotemporal, and superonasal, regions of the lower dominant group, the differences were not statistically significant (t=1.150, 1.465; P＜0.05); in other regions, the differences were statistically significant (t=2.278, 4.168, 5.244, 2.783, 5.040, 3.432, 2.095; P＜0.05). ConclusionThe dilated distribution of vortex veins on en-face ultra-wide-angle OCTA has a corresponding relationship with ChT. In eyes with CSC, the superior vortex vein drainage system may be the primary route for choroidal drainage.