To compare the choroidal thickness in central serous chorioretiopathy (CSC) patients and normal controls using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

The authors compared the choroidal thickness in eyes with CSC, fellow eyes and in normal eyes. In addition, the authors attempted to determine any correlation between choroidal thickness and other factors such as age, height of serous retinal detachment, and spherical equivalent. Choroidal thickness was measured using a perpendicular line from the outer margin of the subfoveal retinal pigment epithelium to the inner surface of the sclera.

Twenty-five eyes of 25 CSC patients, 17 fellow eyes and 29 age-matched normal eyes were examined and categorized as group 1, group 2 and group 3, respectively. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was 370.64 ± 58.06 µm in group 1, 301.85 ± 47.83 µm in group 2, and 261.84 ± 48.22 µm in group 3. The choroidal thickness in group 1 was significantly greater than those in group 2 and group 3, and the choroidal thickness in group 2 was significantly greater than that in group 3 ( p = 0.001, p < 0.001, p = 0.004, respectively), where the choroidal thickness showed a negative correlation with age ( p = 0.015).

The choroidal thickness was greater in eyes with CSC and in their fellow eyes compared to that in normal eyes. The results suggest that CSC may be caused by choroidal vascular hyperpermeability and increased hydrostatic pressure in the choroid.