Improvement of Low Luminance Visual Acuity in Patients with Chronic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy after Half-Dose Verteporfin Photodynamic Therapy

Patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) often complain of visual difficulties under low luminance conditions. In this study, we evaluated low luminance visual acuity (LLVA) after half-dose verteporfin photodynamic therapy (hdPDT) in eyes with CSC. The study included eight eyes of eight patients with chronic CSC that underwent hdPDT. The best-corrected visual acuity, LLVA and optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings were evaluated at baseline, and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after hdPDT. LLVA was measured at six levels of background luminance. Serous retinal detachment was completely resolved in all eyes. Although the mean LLVA at 1 month did not improve significantly compared to baseline at all luminance levels, significant improvements were observed at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months (p < 0.05). In OCT images, although the ellipsoid zone was not detectable in all eyes before hdPDT, it was observed in 2 eyes at 1 month, in 7 eyes at 3 months, and in all eyes from 6 months. The LLVA and the ellipsoid zone improved similarly with postoperative time courses. In conclusion, hdPDT improves LLVA in eyes with chronic CSC. The recovery of the ellipsoid zone may play a part in improving LLVA after hdPDT.