Elongation of photoreceptor outer segment in central serous chorioretinopathy.

Abstract

To investigate photoreceptor segment morphologic changes at the detached retina in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Observational case series. We measured and compared the distance between the internal limiting membrane (ILM) and the external limiting membrane (ELM), between the ELM and the photoreceptor inner and outer segment junction (IS/OS) at the central fovea, and the length of the longest outer segment in 20 consecutive CSC eyes and 10 normal eyes on Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) images. We evaluated the correlation between the length of the outer segment and age, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and symptom duration in CSC eyes and the correlation between retinal thickness from the ILM to ELM and the other parameters. The median distance between the ILM and ELM was 75 microm in the CSC eyes and was significantly (P = .0001) shorter than the median 135 microm in normal eyes. The median distance between the ELM and IS/OS was 35 microm in normal eyes and CSC eyes. The median longest outer segment length in CSC eyes was 90 microm and was significantly (P = .01) longer than the 60 mum in normal eyes. The outer segment length was not or weakly correlated with age (r(s) = 0.38), BCVA (r(s) = 0.09), or symptom duration (r(s) = 0.19). The distance between the ILM and ELM was weakly correlated with age (r(s) = 0.34), BCVA (r(s) = 0.34), or symptom duration (r(s) = 0.28). FD-OCT showed elongation of photoreceptor outer segments and decreased thickness of the outer nuclear layer in CSC.