Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the corresponding alterations of the pupillary response between acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and between different disease categories.
Methods: We recruited patients with unilateral acute and chronic CSC. An eye tracker was applied to determine the pupillary light reflex (PLR) and evaluate the following PLR metrics in healthy eyes: pupil diameter, diameter changes, including relative constriction amplitude (AMP%), and re-dilation ratio (D1%). Baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography (FA/ICGA) were performed to analyze the relationship between pupillary response and retinal/choroidal architecture.
Results: In total, 52 patients were enrolled, including 25 with acute CSC and 27 with chronic CSC. Compared to the chronic CSC group, the acute CSC group displayed a significantly larger baseline pupil diameter (BPD; of 5.51 mm, P = 0.015), lower AMP% (34.40%, P = 0.004), and higher D1% (93.01%, P = 0.002), indicating sympathetic overactivity. On OCT, the total macular volume was positively correlated with the D1% (r = 0.48, P = 0.005) and negatively with AMP (r = -0.47, P = 0.007). On ICGA, the intense choroidal vascular hyperpermeability (CVH) group displayed a greater BPD than the nonintense CVH group. Additionally, 9 cases with later recurrent episodes following therapy showed a lower AMP% and higher D1% than the nonrecurrent group.
Conclusions: The PLR revealed sympathetic excitation in patients with acute CSC. The stronger D1% was significantly associated with greater total macular volume, and it may be a potential biomarker for predicting the later recurrence of CSC.