Assessment of metamorphopsia in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the presence and extent of metamorphopsia using M-CHARTS™ (Inami Co., Tokyo, Japan) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). DESIGN: Retrospective consecutive medical record review in a university hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined 33 eyes of 33 consecutive CSC patients using M-CHARTS, which yields scores reflecting the severity of metamorphopsia. The condition was considered present when an M-CHARTS score was 0.3 or over. In all patients, optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was assessed, and M-CHARTS scores were calculated at the first and the 1- and 3-month follow-up visits. The correlation between M-CHARTS scores and BCVA values was determined. We also sought to define relationships between the level of metamorphopsia and specific OCT findings. RESULTS: Of 33 CSC patients, 15 showed symptoms of metamorphopsia, and all 15 had M-CHARTS scores of over 0.3. However, no correlation was evident between BCVA values and the extent of metamorphopsia as determined using M-CHARTS. In metamorphopsia patients, the incidence of focal retinal pigment epithelial detachment was notably greater than in the non-metamorphopsia group (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: M-CHARTS is valuable for monitoring subjective symptom improvement during the clinical course of CSC. M-CHARTS serves as a useful adjunct to OCT.