Chronic Neovascular Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: A Stress/Rest Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study

Abstract Purpose To compare optical coherence tomography–angiography performed during physical exercise (stress OCT-A) to the basal examination (rest OCT-A) in the imaging of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). Design Prospective, cohort study. Methods This multicenter study included 29 consecutive patients with chronic CSCR and flat irregular pigment epithelium detachments (FIPEDs). All patients underwent rest and stress OCT-A (i.e., hand-grip test [HGT]). Systemic hemodynamic data were recorded during the examinations. Rest and stress OCT-angiograms in the en-face and cross-sectional views were qualitatively compared to establish the degree of evidence of flow signals due to CNVs. The en-face angiograms underwent additional automated quantitative analysis to assess the rate of change in neovascular parameters during the stress condition. Results Blood pressure significantly increased during the HGT (P=0.001). Considering both the en-face and the cross-sectional images, CNV was identified in 13 eyes with the rest OCT-A and in 22 eyes with the stress OCT-A (P=0.001). Cross-sectional imaging was more sensitive than en-face imaging in detecting neovascular blood flow signals both in rest (P=0.125) and stress (P=0.001) conditions. The quantitative analysis showed a significantly greater neovascular area and fractal dimension on the stress OCT-angiograms (P=0.002). Conclusions Performing OCT-A during HGT enhances the sensitivity of the examination in detecting CNV in chronic CSCR. The increased neovascular perfusion following the induced increase of blood pressure is consistent with choroidal blood flow dysregulation in patients with CSCR, and indicates new areas of discussion about CNV in this disease.