OPTICAL DENSITY RATIO AS A PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKER FOR CHRONICITY IN CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Diseases
• Diagnostic Biomarkers

Background:

• Central Serous Chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a common condition affecting the macula.
• Predicting the course and visual outcomes of CSCR is crucial for patient management.
• Subretinal fluid (SRF) is a hallmark of CSCR, but its optical properties are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prognostic value of baseline subretinal fluid optical density ratio (ODR) in patients with newly diagnosed CSCR.
• To determine if ODR can predict SRF resolution and visual acuity outcomes at 3 months.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 39 patients with first-onset CSCR.
• SRF resolution was assessed at 3 months.
• Baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to calculate SRF optical density ratio (ODR).

Main Results:

• Higher baseline ODR was significantly associated with persistent SRF at 3 months (p=0.018).
• Patients with resolved SRF had better visual acuity at follow-up (p=0.035).
• ODR was the sole independent predictor of SRF persistence in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions:

• Baseline ODR is a valuable prognostic biomarker in CSCR.
• ODR can identify patients at higher risk for chronic disease and poorer visual outcomes.
• This cost-effective biomarker can aid in early risk stratification for CSCR patients.