Subretinal fluid morphology in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy and its relationship to treatment: a retrospective analysis on PLACE trial data

PURPOSE: To explore subretinal fluid (SRF) morphology in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (cCSC) after one session of either high-density subthreshold micropulse laser (HSML) treatment or half-dose photodynamic therapy (PDT).

METHODS: We retrospectively obtained optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from a subset of patients from a randomized controlled trial on treatment-naïve eyes with cCSC allocated to either HSML treatment or half-dose PDT. OCT scans were evaluated prior to treatment and 6-8 weeks post-treatment, where we measured maximum SRF height and width, calculated the maximum height-to-maximum width-ratio (maxHWR) and calculated the total SRF volume.

RESULTS: Forty-one eyes of 39 cCSC patients were included. SRF morphology ranged from flat to dome-shaped, quantified as maxHWR ranging between 0.02 and 0.12. SRF volume was median 0.373 μl (range: 0.010-4.425 μl) and did not correlate to maxHWR (rho = -0.004, p = 0.982). Half-dose PDT was superior to HSML treatment in complete SRF resolution (RR = 3.28, p = 0.003) and in morphological changes of SRF (Δmaximum height , p = 0.001; Δmaximum width , p < 0.001; Δvolume , p = 0.025). SRF resolved completely in 19/22 PDT-treated eyes (86%) and 5/19 HSML-treated eyes (26%). SRF volume increased in five eyes (26%) after HSML treatment, and in none of the eyes after half-dose PDT. SRF morphology at baseline did not predict treatment outcomes.

CONCLUSION: SRF morphology changed after both HSML treatment and half-dose PDT in cCSC, with SRF disappearing in most PDT-treated patients, whereas SRF volume increased in a sizeable proportion of HSML-treated patients. Baseline SRF characteristics measured in this study were unable to predict outcomes after either HSML treatment or half-dose PDT.