title: Chronic central serous chorioretinopathy: long-term follow-up and vision-related quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical findings and long-term outcome of patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (cCSC).
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective case series in 52 eyes of 36 patients with a follow-up period of at least 1 year. Extensive ophthalmic examination and a validated questionnaire concerning vision-related quality of life (National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire [NEI-VFQ]-39) were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean visual acuity showed a significant decline over time of 0.16 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution ([logMAR] range: -0.22 to 1.3;P=0.009) after a mean follow-up period of 10.6 years. Also, patients reported lower vision-related quality of life based on the NEI-VFQ-39 for almost all categories compared to healthy controls. Macular atrophy was diagnosed more often on optical coherence tomography compared to other diagnostic entities. Retinal pigment epithelium detachments in the macula were documented on optical coherence tomography in 56% of the patients. A significant thinning of foveal thickness was measured over time compared to unaffected fellow eyes (P=0.002). On long-term follow-up, 13 eyes (37%) showed an increase in number of hot spots on fluorescein angiography.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study indicates that cCSC is a progressive disease in many patients, causing a progressive decline in visual acuity, accompanied by lower reported vision-related quality of life. In deciding whether or not to treat, the progressive nature of cCSC should be taken into account in this relatively young and often still professionally active patient group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology.
authors.forename: Myrte B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Breukink
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology.
authors.forename: Alexander Jm
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dingemans
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology; Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anneke I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: den Hollander
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology.
authors.forename: Jan Ee
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Keunen
authors.affiliation: Oxford Eye Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust; Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: MacLaren
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fauser
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University Paris Est Creteil, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal de Creteil, Creteil, France.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Querques
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology.
authors.forename: Carel B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Hoyng
authors.affiliation: Oxford Eye Hospital, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust; Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Downes
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology; Department of Ophthalmology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Camiel Jf
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Boon
keywords: NEI-VFQ-39; PDT; chronic central serous chorioretinopathy; micropulse laser; vision-related quality of life