Purpose: To investigate the retinal vascular response to the isometric exercise in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) by using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A).
Methods: This was a multicenter case-control study including 35 CSCR patients and 25 age-matched healthy controls. All subjects underwent macular OCT-A scans in resting conditions and during a handgrip isometric exercise. Hemodynamic data, such as systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), were recorded at baseline and during the stress test. Qualitative and quantitative assessments of the retinal superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) were performed on OCT angiograms. The results obtained in CSCR patients were then compared with those of healthy subjects.
Results: At baseline and during the isometric exercise, SBP, DBP, MAP, and OPP were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in CSCR patients than controls. Under stress conditions, the hemodynamic values significantly increased both in patients and controls. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of OCT angiograms evidenced an increased blood flow during exercise only in CSCR patients. Baseline vascular perfusion density (VPD) values of SCP and DCP were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in CSCR cases than in healthy subjects. A significant increase (P < 0.05) of VPD values was obtained during the exercise in CSCR patients and not in controls.
Conclusions: Unlike healthy subjects, retinal blood flow in patients with CSCR seems affected by rapid increases in BP and OPP. Our study suggests that the autoregulatory mechanisms controlling retinal microcirculation are not entirely able to counteract overperfusion in patients with CSCR.