Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

Central Serous Chorioretinopathy is a condition that usually affects young people (30-40 years old) but may also affect the elderly.

Patients usually experience a mild or medium vision decrease, which in some cases may be largely restored without treatment, after a few weeks or months. However, since it is a chronic disease, it is possible that the patient may experience many relapses, resulting in a significant decrease of their visual acuity.

Often this disease affects hyperactive and anxious individuals (type A personalities). Furthermore, taking cortisone may activate the disease, so it is usually recommended that patients avoid taking it, unless otherwise required for serious health issues.

Diagnosis of the disease requires examination of the fundus with special lenses, which often shows a circumscribed retinal elevation of the retina on the macula. To accurately diagnose the disease and record any damages, an Optical Coherence Tomography must be performed, which will depict the distinctive fluid accumulation underneath the retina, as well as an eye angiogram, which shows the leakage points which cause the accumulation of liquid.

In the early occurrences of the disease, no treatment is required, as the damage may subside on its own and vision may be restored to near normal levels. However, if there are many episodes or if the disease becomes chronic, it is recommended that the patient undergoes a mild laser procedure after an intravenous drug injection (visudyne).

This treatment is called photodynamic therapy and usually leads to fluid resorption and vision improvement, depending, of course, on the severity of the atrophies developed until then.