ACUTE EXUDATIVE MACULOPATHY AND BACILLARY LAYER DETACHMENT IN PATIENTS WITH CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY AFTER PHOTODYNAMIC THERAPY.

Purpose: To describe the incidence and characteristics of photodynamic therapy-induced acute exudative maculopathy (PAEM) and bacillary layer detachment in patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Methods: This was a prospective observational case series including 92 eyes of 75 patients who underwent photodynamic therapy. Best-corrected visual acuity, optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence tomography angiography were performed before, 3 days, 1 month, and 3 months after half-fluence photodynamic therapy. Two groups were established depending on the presence or absence (N = 28 and N = 64, respectively) of PAEM. Choriocapillaris flow voids increase, subfoveal choroidal thickness, and the presence of choroidal neovascularization were collected.

Results: The incidence of PAEM was 28/92 (30.4%). There was no difference in the age, sex, baseline subretinal fluid, subfoveal choroidal thickness, or the presence of choroidal neovascularization between groups (P ≥ 0.094). No differences emerged in the subretinal fluid at 1 and 3 months after photodynamic therapy between groups (P ≥ 0.524), nor in the mean best-corrected visual acuity gain at 3 months (4.1 ± 7.6 vs. 3.6 ± 6.4 letters; P = 0.773). A bacillary layer detachment was observed in 13 patients with PAEM (46.4%).

Conclusion: Photodynamic therapy-induced acute exudative maculopathy is frequent in patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy but has a favorable prognosis. There was no association between PAEM and age, sex, subfoveal choroidal thickness, or choroidal neovascularization; however, it was related to choriocapillaris flow voids increase.