Assessment of the anterior scleral thickness in central serous chorioretinopathy patients by optical coherence tomography

Purpose To assess the anterior scleral thickness (AST) and describe the presence of a visible supraciliary space (SCS) in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) patients by swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). Study design Cross-sectional comparative study. Material and Methods Three groups were studied: 1) 64 eyes of 54 patients with CSC with persistent subretinal fluid (SRF); 2) 42 fellow eyes of CSC patients without SRF; 3) 65 eyes of 65 controls matched by age, sex and axial length (AL). The AST was measured in the temporal and nasal quadrants at 0, 1, and 2 mm from the scleral spur by SS-OCT. The presence of a visible SCS was also assessed. Results No differences were observed in the AST0 among the three groups (p >= 0.665). The temporal AST1 was significantly thicker in the CSC group (530.3 +/- 67.1 mu m) than in the controls (505.5 +/- 73.9; p=0.041). Mean AST2 was also thicker in the CSC group and the fellow eyes both for the temporal (519.4 +/- 89.1 mu m and 519.8 +/- 98.5 mu m respectively) and nasal quadrants (564.2 +/- 124.9 mu m and 570.5 +/- 131.0 mu m) than in the controls (450.1 +/- 76.8 and 473.3 +/- 111.6 mu m) (all p <= 0.001). A visible SCS was detected in the eyes of 8 CSC patients, in 4 fellow eyes and only in 1 control eye. Conclusions AST measured by SS-OCT was significantly greater in CSC eyes than in healthy eyes. Also, a visible SCS was detected in CSC eyes. Thus, thicker sclera in CSC eyes could be associated with the physiopathology of this disease.