[Central serous choroidopathy: problems of etiology and clinical aspects]

Examinations of 35 patients hospitalized after long ineffective antituberculous therapy on an outpatient basis have revealed serous detachment of pigmented epithelium or neuroepithelium of the retina in 17, hemorrhagic detachment of pigmented epithelium and neuroepithelium in 12, and residual symptoms of these conditions with macular dystrophy signs in 6 of these patients. The absence of chorioretinal foci that are characteristic of tuberculous inflammation of ocular internal membranes, absence of focal reactions in tuberculin diagnosis and no therapeutic effect in antituberculous therapy evidenced a nontuberculous origin of the disease. Fluorescent angiographic examination of the fundus oculi has confirmed the clinical diagnosis of central serous choroidopathy in 18 of 23 cases. The author emphasizes a nontuberculous etiology of central serous choroidopathy and suggests that three stages be distinguished in the clinical picture of this condition: serous, hemorrhagic and dystrophic.