Comparison of swept-source OCTA and indocyanine green angiography in central serous chorioretinopathy

BACKGROUND: To compare swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). METHODS: SS-OCTA and ICGA images of 39 eyes with symptomatic CSC were collected and aligned. Spatial overlap of the annotations of the coarse granulated high reflective area on choriocapillary OCTA and the hyperfluorescence area on mid-phase ICGA was calculated according to the Jaccard index (JI). SS-OCTA findings of fellow eyes and changes in SS-OCTA abnormalities during the follow-up were also analyzed. RESULTS: Three main types of abnormalities in choriocapillaris SS-OCTA images were found: type A, coarse granulated high reflective area (39 eyes [100%]); type B, roundish dark halo around Type A (32 eyes [82.1%]); and type C, coarse granulated low reflective area (39 eyes [100%]). The mean JI of type A on SS-OCTA and the hyperfluorescence area on ICGA were 0.55 ± 0.15 for grader 1 and 0.49 ± 0.15 for grader 2. The mean area of type A abnormalities on SS-OCTA and hyperfluorescence on ICGA was 3.976 (IQR, 2.139–8.168) and 3.043 (IQR, 1.408–4.909) mm(2) (P = 0.199). The areas of type A, B and C abnormalities on SS-OCTA after laser treatment or observation were 3.36mm(2) (IQR, 2.399–9.312), 2.9mm(2) (IQR, 2.15–3.7), and 0.19mm(2) (IQR, 0.08–0.23), respectively, which was smaller than those in the baseline (7.311mm(2) (IQR 3.788–11.209), P < 0.001; 4.3mm(2) (IQR, 2.8–9.8), P = 0.002;0.33mm(2) (IQR, 0.23–0.38), P < 0.001). The change in the type A, B or C area was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.679, 0.732, and 0.892). CONCLUSION: The coarse granulated high reflective area in SS-OCTA corresponded well with the hyperpermeability area in ICGA. SS-OCTA promotes noninvasive visualization and follow-up quantifications of the choroidal vasculature in CSC patients. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12886-022-02607-4.