Contrast sensitivity in patients recovered from central serous chorioretinopathy

Objective: To study contrast sensitivity in patients who have recovered from central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Patients and methods: Thirty-one patients who had recovered from CSC were examined with the Vistech and Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity charts. The time from the onset of the active disease varied from 10 to 166 months (mean 60.4 +/- 42.0, SD). The visual acuity was 1.0 (logMar 0) or better. Results: Contrast sensitivity of the affected eyes was significantly worse in the intermediate spatial frequencies of 3 and 6 cycles per degree (cpd) in the Vistech test compared to the fellow eyes (p = 0.032, 0.013, respectively). Contrast sensitivity of the affected eyes was significantly worse in all 5 spatial frequencies of the Vistech test and in the Pelli-Robson test compared to age-matched normal eyes (p = 0.006, 0.000, 0.000, 0.018, 0.000, 0.000, respectively). Contrast sensitivity of the fellow eyes was significantly worse in the spatial frequencies of 3 and 18 cpd in the Vistech test and in the Pelli-Robson test compared to age-matched normal eyes (p = 0.020, 0.019, 0.000, respectively). Conclusions: Contrast sensitivity does not seem to recover in all eyes after CSC even if the visual acuity has returned to normal. Therefore, contrast sensitivity testing is recommended for the patients complaining of visual impairment in spite of good visual acuity.