Dark-Field Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy for Prediction of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Responsiveness to Laser Therapy

PURPOSE: To study the potential of dark-field scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (DF-SLO) for the prediction of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) responsiveness to laser therapy. METHODS: Fifty-two eyes of 52 patients (44 males and 8 females, mean age of 45.4 ± 8.8 years) newly diagnosed with CSC were included in this prospective cohort study. At baseline, all patients received multimodal imaging including DF-SLO and then were observed until resolution of subretinal fluid or, in nonresolving cases, treated with laser therapy. At the end of the follow-up, each case was categorized as either self-resolving, resolving after laser treatment, or nonresolving after laser treatment. Presence of granular retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) changes and lucency of RPE/choroid complex at the leak on DF-SLO images were used by two masked graders to identify cases nonresolving after laser treatment. RESULTS: Using DF-SLO images, the masked grader correctly classified 45 of 52 (86.5%) CSC cases. Kappa value for the classification by two graders was 0.95 (95% confidential interval [CI] 0.85–1.0). The area under the receiver operating curve, sensitivity, and specificity of DF-SLO in identifying nonresolving after laser treatment cases were 0.92 (95% CI: 0.79–0.98), 86.7% (95% CI: 59.5%–98.3%), and 96.6% (95% CI: 82.2%–99.2%), respectively. CONCLUSION: DF-SLO may be a useful technique in prognostication of response to laser treatment in newly diagnosed CSC.