Laser photocoagulation for patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy

Aim. To assess the efficacy of laser photocoagulation treatment for patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Methods. The study included 17 eyes of 15 patients with relapse of central serous chorioretinopathy of different etiology, including 9 men. Patient’s age ranged from 34 to 55 years. Mean disease duration ranged from 3 months to 8 years. All study subjects underwent a standard ophthalmic examination including best-corrected visual acuity testing, intraocular pressure measurement, bioophthalmoscopy, color vision testing, visual field testing, optical coherence tomography, fluorescent angiography of the retina before and after the treatment. Fluorescein sodium salt (100 mg/ml, ampules of 5 ml, «Novartis Pharma» was used as a contrast. Before the treatment, neuroepithelial layer detachment height was 385.09±14.1 µm, the best-corrected visual acuity ranged from 0.41 to 0.82. The study group did not include the patients with secondary choroidal neovascularization. Diode laser with wave length of 532 nm («Carl Zeiss») was used for laser photocoagulation. The laser photocoagulation procedure was done using the following parameters: exposure time 0.05-0.1 sec, the spot diameter 100-200 µm, and the impulse energy of 100-200 mJ.

Results. Significant improvement of visual acuity, disappearance of relative central scotoma proven by instrumental methods was seen in all patients. Best-corrected visual acuity was 0.91, decrease of neuroepithelial layer detachment height with adherence of all layers of the retina was reduced to 171.12±11.5 µm on the 3-5 day after laser photocoagulation. Patients were followed up from 1 to 6 months, with treatment results staying stable.

Conclusion. Laser photocoagulation of a retina in treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy allows to achieve encouraging morphologic and functional results.