Measurement of Ophthalmic-arterial Blood-flow Velocity Using Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography in Patients with Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To measure and compare the ocular blood-flow velocity of ophthalmic artery in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC); affected eyes, asymptomatic fellow eyes, and CSC resolved eyes using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. METHODS: A total of 31 patients (age 20-52 years) with CSC were evaluated using power motion mode Doppler 150 digital transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. The peak systolic velocity (PSV), peak diastolic velocity (PDV), and resistance index (RI) were measured in the ophthalmic artery of both affected and asymptomatic fellow eyes. After 2 months, 23 patients with resolved serous retinal detachment underwent repeated measurement of the above hemodynamic indices. RESULTS: The PSV and PDV of the ophthalmic artery were 30.05 ± 5.34 cm/sec and 14.07 ± 2.90 cm/sec in affected eyes and 33.03 ± 2.00 cm/sec and 17.17 ± 2.76 cm/sec in asymptomatic fellow eyes, respectively. Both indices were significantly lower in affected eyes (p = 0.004, p < 0.001, respectively). The RI was 0.52 ± 0.08 in affected eyes and 0.43 ± 0.04 in fellow eyes, a significant difference (p < 0.001). After 2 months, in 23 eyes with resolved CSC, the PSV and PDV were 32.94 ± 6.24 cm/sec and 15.54 ± 2.88 cm/sec, respectively. Both indices were significantly higher than at baseline (p = 0.031, p = 0.045, respectively). However, RI was 0.48 ± 0.04 and was not significantly different (p = 0.073). CONCLUSIONS: The CSC-affected eyes showed lower ocular blood-flow velocity and higher RI than the asymptomatic fellow eyes. The ocular blood-flow velocity was increased as CSC was resolved. These findings provide insights into the ophthalmic arterial vascular factors related to the pathogenesis of CSC.