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. 2022 Dec;260(12):3825-3836.
doi: 10.1007/s00417-022-05757-9. Epub 2022 Jul 15.

Retinal and choroidal vasoreactivity in central serous chorioretinopathy

Susana Penas  1   2 , Teresa Araújo  3   4 , Ana Maria Mendonça  3   4 , Simão Faria  3   4 , Jorge Silva  3   4 , Aurélio Campilho  3   4 , Maria Lurdes Martins  5 , Vânia Sousa  5 , Amândio Rocha-Sousa  5   6 , Ângela Carneiro  5   6 , Fernando Falcão-Reis  5   6
Affiliations

Retinal and choroidal vasoreactivity in central serous chorioretinopathy

Susana Penas et al. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to investigate retinal and choroidal vascular reactivity to carbogen in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) patients.

Methods: An experimental pilot study including 68 eyes from 20 CSC patients and 14 age and sex-matched controls was performed. The participants inhaled carbogen (5% CO2 + 95% O2) for 2 min through a high-concentration disposable mask. A 30° disc-centered fundus imaging using infra-red (IR) and macular spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) using the enhanced depth imaging (EDI) technique was performed, both at baseline and after a 2-min gas exposure. A parametric model fitting-based approach for automatic retinal blood vessel caliber estimation was used to assess the mean variation in both arterial and venous vasculature. Choroidal thickness was measured in two different ways: the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was calculated using a manual caliper and the mean central choroidal thickness (MCCT) was assessed using an automatic software.

Results: No significant differences were detected in baseline hemodynamic parameters between both groups. A significant positive correlation was found between the participants' age and arterial diameter variation (p < 0.001, r = 0.447), meaning that younger participants presented a more vasoconstrictive response (negative variation) than older ones. No significant differences were detected in the vasoreactive response between CSC and controls for both arterial and venous vessels (p = 0.63 and p = 0.85, respectively). Although the vascular reactivity was not related to the activity of CSC, it was related to the time of disease, for both the arterial (p = 0.02, r = 0.381) and venous (p = 0.001, r = 0.530) beds. SFCT and MCCT were highly correlated (r = 0.830, p < 0.001). Both SFCT and MCCT significantly increased in CSC patients (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001) but not in controls (p = 0.059 and 0.247). A significant negative correlation between CSC patients' age and MCCT variation (r = - 0.340, p = 0.049) was detected. In CSC patients, the choroidal thickness variation was not related to the activity state, time of disease, or previous photodynamic treatment.

Conclusion: Vasoreactivity to carbogen was similar in the retinal vessels but significantly higher in the choroidal vessels of CSC patients when compared to controls, strengthening the hypothesis of a choroidal regulation dysfunction in this pathology.

Keywords: CSC; Carbogen; Central serous chorioretinopathy; Choroidal thickness; Vascular reactivity; Vasoreactivity.

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References

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