Purpose: To investigate photoreceptor segment morphologic changes at the detached retina in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).
Design: Observational case series.
Methods: 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.
Results: 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).
Conclusions: FD-OCT showed elongation of photoreceptor outer segments and decreased thickness of the outer nuclear layer in CSC.