Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: Clinical Characteristics Associated with Visual Outcomes

Retrospective cohort study to identify clinical characteristics associated with poor visual acuity in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).

Charts of patients in a tertiary referral clinic diagnosed with CSC over a 13-year period were reviewed. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between several clinical characteristics and final visual acuity.

Of 353 subjects with CSC, 258 had a minimum of 2 clinical assessments and adequate follow-up. Multivariate analysis showed that the followings were significantly associated with worse final visual acuity: older age at diagnosis, history of photodynamic therapy, choroidal neovascularization (CNV), hypertension, and either prostate cancer or benign prostatic hypertrophy. Diabetes mellitus was associated with better final visual acuity. In a subgroup analysis of 150 subjects with at least 1 year of follow-up, CNV, hypertension, and gastroesophageal reflux disease were significantly associated with worsening of visual acuity over the study period. Use of a psychiatric medication at presentation was protective.

Poor visual outcomes in CSC are associated with older age at diagnosis, CNV, hypertension, and history of prostate disease. Several clinical characteristics that have been identified as risk factors for developing CSC also appear to be associated with worse visual outcomes.