Indocyanine green angiography of central serous chorioretinopathy

Fluorescein angiography has not been particularly useful in studying the choroidal vasculature because of limited fluorescence transmission through the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Indocyanine green (ICG), a dye that absorbs and fluoresces in the near-infrared range and does not leak extensively through the choriocapillaries, because of its highly protein-bound nature, allows improved imaging of the choroid compared with fluorescein angiography. This study was performed to evaluate changes in the choroidal circulation in the eyes of patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) using ICG angiography.

We prospectively performed ICG angiography and fluorescein angiography in 41 eyes with classic or chronic CSCR (diffuse retinal pigment epitheliopathy) to investigate the choroidal abnormalities.

The ICG angiographic studies revealed choroidal staining in all eyes of the two forms of CSCR. Classic CSCR (35 eyes), when compared with the chronic form (6 eyes), were associated with more RPE leakage (89% vs 33%; p = 0.008), more prominent ischemic lobules (69% vs 0; p = 0.003), and less late phase hypofluorescent spots (46% vs 100%; p = 0.02).

Choroidal hyperpermeability may be a causative factor of acute or chronic CSCR and may help in the diagnosis of atypical cases of CSCR. The differences in the results between these two types of CSCR using ICG angiography, allowed for a better understanding of the choroidal hemodynamic change than fluorescein angiography.