Masqueraders of central serous chorioretinopathy

Associations of ARMS2 and NR3C2 genes polymorphisms with central serous chorioretinopathy in a Greek population

BACKGROUND

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is characterized by serous detachment of the central neurosensory retina and it is one of the most common retinal disorders. Various genetic polymorphisms have been associated with CSCR development.

METHODS

The aim of our study was to investigate the potential association between ARMS2 (rs10490924) and NR3C2 (rs2070951 and rs5522) genes polymorphisms and CSCR development in a well defined Greek cohort for the first time in literature. We enrolled, in our case-control study, 48 CSCR patients and 137 controls. The ARMS2 (rs10490924) and NR3C2 (rs2070951 and rs5522) genes polymorphisms were analyzed using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assays.

RESULTS

In our study, we found significant associations between ARMS2rs10490924 and NR3C2rs2070951 single nucleotide polymorphisms and CSCR development. Specifically, the GTrs10490924 genotype frequency of the ARMS2 gene was found to be significantly associated with risk of CSCR and T allele of rs10490924ARMS2 gene was also found to increase risk for CSCR. The genotype frequency GC and CC of rs2070951NR3C2 gene were observed more frequently in CSCR patients than controls and C allele of rs2070951NR3C2 gene was also observed more frequently in CSCR patients than controls. Rs5522 of NR3C2 gene polymorphism was not found to be significantly associated with CSCR.

CONCLUSION

Our findings showed, for the first time in a Greek population, that SNPs in the ARMS2 and NR3C2 genes are significantly associated with risk of CSCR. The results of this study support the involvement of extracellular matrix (ARMS2 gene) and mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) in the pathogenesis of CSCR.

Challenges in posterior uveitis-tips and tricks for the retina specialist

PURPOSE

Posterior uveitis is a common chorioretinal pathology affecting all ages worldwide and is a frequent reason for referral to the retina clinic. The spectrum of etiologies for uveitis is very broad and includes infectious and auto-immune diseases. Inflammation can be confined to the eye or may be a part of systemic disease. A useful outline is therefore proposed to aid in the correct diagnosis of these challenging entities. The situation is further complicated by the fact that many neoplastic conditions resemble features of posterior uveitis; they are known as "masqueraders of uveitis". Here, we summarize different posterior uveitides that present with rare findings, along with masqueraders that can be difficult to distinguish. These conditions pose a diagnostic dilemma resulting in delay in treatment because of diagnostic uncertainty.

METHODS

An extensive literature search was performed on the MEDLINE/PUBMED, EBSCO and Cochrane CENTRAL databases from January 1985 to January 2022 for original studies and reviews of predetermined diagnoses that include posterior uveitic entities, panuveitis and masquerade syndromes.

RESULTS

We described conditions that can present as mimickers of posterior uveitis (i.e., immune check-points inhibitors and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada-like uveitis; leukemia and lymphoma associated posterior uveitis), inflammatory conditions that present as mimickers of retinal diseases (i.e., Purtscher-like retinopathy as a presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus; central serous chorioretinopathy masquerading inflammatory exudative retinal detachment), and uveitic conditions with rare and diagnostically challenging etiologies (i.e., paradoxical inflammatory effects of anti-TNF-α; post vaccination uveitis; ocular inflammation after intravitreal injection of antiangiogenic drugs).

CONCLUSION

This review of unique posterior uveitis cases highlights the overlapping features of posterior uveitis (paradoxical inflammatory effects of anti -TNF α and uveitis; Purtscher-like retinopathy as a presentation of systemic lupus erythematosus, …) and the nature of retinal conditions (ischemic ocular syndrome, or central retinal vein occlusion, amyloidosis, inherited conditions like retinitis pigmentosa, autosomal dominant neovascular inflammatory vitreoretinopathy (ADNIV), etc.…) that may mimic them is represented. Careful review of past uveitis history, current medications and recent vaccinations, detailed examination of signs of past or present inflammation, eventually genetic testing and/ or multimodal retinal imaging (like fluorescein angiography, EDI-OCT, OCT-angiography for lupus Purtscher-like retinopathy evaluation, or ICG for central serous retinopathy, or retinal amyloid angiopathy) may aid in correct diagnosis.

Imaging characteristics of bilateral CSCR cases:12 months follow up

PURPOSE

To report the disease pattern, progression and imaging characteristics in eyes with bilateral central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).

METHODS

This was a retrospective case review of bilateral CSCR patients with active disease in at least one eye. Multimodal imaging including fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence, optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein and indocyanine angiography (FA/ICGA) was done at baseline and follow-up visits. Disease classification was done using recently described classification criteria. The degree of asymmetry in the disease distribution pattern at baseline and disease progression during follow-up visit with a minimum duration of 12 months was studied.

RESULTS

Among 103 CSCR patients, 36 patients (34.95%) with mean age of 53.6 ± 10.5 years had bilateral CSCR at baseline. Five patients (13.9%) had asymmetrical disease i.e. simple in one eye and complex in fellow eye. The remaining 31 patients had symmetric disease (simple, 2; complex 29). Mean duration of follow up was 17.58 ± 13.84 months. There was no significant difference between both eye parameters at last follow up (best corrected visual acuity, BCVA; central macular thickness, CMT; and subfoveal choroidal thickness, SFCT) (all p > 0.05). At last follow up, 22 eyes (2 simple and 20 complex) remained active whereas none of the eyes converted from simple to complex CSCR.

CONCLUSION

Bilateral disease was more commonly seen with complex CSCR in contrast to simple CSCR. Moreover, disease distribution in complex CSCR had symmetric pattern if bilateral disease was present. None of the simple CSCR eyes converted to complex type.

Pathophysiology of central serous chorioretinopathy: a literature review with quality assessment

The pathogenesis of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR), a pachychoroid disease, is poorly understood. While choroid hyperpermeability and retinal pigment epithelium dysfunction are cornerstones for developing CSCR, the mechanisms at the retinal, vascular, retinal pigment epithelium, and cellular level continue to be an enigma. A few preclinical studies and the development of small-sized, poorly controlled clinical trials have resulted in limited insight into the disease mechanism. Effective treatments for CSCR are still lacking as current trials have produced inconsistent results for functional and structural gains. Thus, critically evaluating the literature to explore disease mechanisms and provide an up-to-date understanding of pathophysiology can provide valuable information and avenues to new treatments. In this study, a comprehensive summary of the mechanistic insight into CSCR is presented while highlighting the shortcomings of current literature. The mechanism was divided into seven sub-categories including mechanical obstruction, inflammation, oxidative stress, paracrine factors, autonomic dysfunction, mineralocorticoid receptors activation, and medications. We implemented validated tools like the JBI and CAMARADES to objectively analyze the quality of both clinical and preclinical studies, respectively. Overall, our analysis of the literature showed that no single mechanism was populated with a large number of sufficiently sized and good-quality studies. However, compiling these studies gave hints not only to CSCR pathogenesis but also pachychoroid disease in general while providing suggestions for future exploration.

Simple Code Implementation for Deep Learning-Based Segmentation to Evaluate Central Serous Chorioretinopathy in Fundus Photography

Purpose

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a retinal disease that frequently shows resolution and recurrence with serous detachment of the neurosensory retina. Here, we present a deep learning analysis of subretinal fluid (SRF) lesion segmentation in fundus photographs to evaluate CSC.

Methods

We collected 194 fundus photographs of SRF lesions from the patients with CSC. Three graders manually annotated of the entire SRF area in the retinal images. The dataset was randomly separated into training (90%) and validation (10%) datasets. We used the U-Net segmentation model based on conditional generative adversarial networks (pix2pix) to detect the SRF lesions. The algorithms were trained and validated using Google Colaboratory. Researchers did not need prior knowledge of coding skills or computing resources to implement this code.

Results

The validation results showed that the Jaccard index and Dice coefficient scores were 0.619 and 0.763, respectively. In most cases, the segmentation results overlapped with most of the reference areas in the annotated images. However, cases with exceptional SRFs were not accurate in terms of prediction. Using Colaboratory, the proposed segmentation task ran easily in a web-based environment without setup or personal computing resources.

Conclusions

The results suggest that the deep learning model based on U-Net from the pix2pix algorithm is suitable for the automatic segmentation of SRF lesions to evaluate CSC.

Translational Relevance

Our code implementation has the potential to facilitate ophthalmology research; in particular, deep learning–based segmentation can assist in the development of pathological lesion detection solutions.

Efficacy of combined anti-VEGF and photodynamic therapy for bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation: Case series

RATIONALE

Bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation (BDUMP) is an extremely rare retinal exudative disease with physical disorders and no established treatment standard. We describe treatment courses in 3 cases of BDUMP.

PATIENTS CONCERNS

Three male patients complained active vision loss. One male patient in his 70s (patient 1) was treated with prednisolone, mesalazine, and ciclosporin for hypoplastic anemia and ulcerous colitis. One male patient in his 60s (patient 2) was on prednisolone therapy for adult Still disease. Another male patient in his 70s (patient 3) was on prednisolone therapy for polymyalgia rheumatica, giant cell arteritis, and pancreatic body tumor.

DIAGNOSES

Retinal specialists diagnosed these patients with BDUMP based on characteristic fundus findings of multiple red patches and retinal exudate.

INTERVENTIONS

Two patients (patients 1 and 2) with poor response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monotherapy and/or triamcinolone acetonide sub-Tenon injection were treated with combined anti-VEGF therapy and photodynamic therapy. One patient (patient 3) was treated with 3 rounds of monthly anti-VEGF monotherapy.

OUTCOMES

Retinal exudates were resolved in all patients. No recurrence of retinal exudates was observed for at least 10 months, 2 years, or 4 months after the therapy in patients 1, 2, and 3, respectively. However, best-corrected visual acuity of the right eye was low (20/200) compared with that of the left eye (20/22) in patient 2 despite exudate resolution, due to permanent outer retinal damage secondary to long-term retinal exudate.

LESSONS SUBSECTIONS

Combined anti-VEGF therapy and photodynamic therapy may be a feasible therapeutic option for treatment-resistant exudate in patients with BDUMP. Early diagnosis of BDUMP and prompt administration of combination therapy are crucial.

Serous business: Delineating the broad spectrum of diseases with subretinal fluid in the macula

A wide range of ocular diseases can present with serous subretinal fluid in the macula and therefore clinically mimic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). In this manuscript, we categorise the diseases and conditions that are part of the differential diagnosis into 12 main pathogenic subgroups: neovascular diseases, vitelliform lesions, inflammatory diseases, ocular tumours, haematological malignancies, paraneoplastic syndromes, genetic diseases, ocular developmental anomalies, medication-related conditions and toxicity-related diseases, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and tractional retinal detachment, retinal vascular diseases, and miscellaneous diseases. In addition, we describe 2 new clinical pictures associated with macular subretinal fluid accumulation, namely serous maculopathy with absence of retinal pigment epithelium (SMARPE) and serous maculopathy due to aspecific choroidopathy (SMACH). Differentiating between these various diseases and CSC can be challenging, and obtaining the correct diagnosis can have immediate therapeutic and prognostic consequences. Here, we describe the key differential diagnostic features of each disease within this clinical spectrum, including representative case examples. Moreover, we discuss the pathogenesis of each disease in order to facilitate the differentiation from typical CSC.

The Genetic Background of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy: A Review on Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Genes

Central serous chorioretinopathy is characterized by neurosensory detachment of the central retina secondary to fluid leakage through the retinal pigment epithelium. Though it has an incidence of 9,9 per 100.000 in men and 1,7 per 100.000 in women, it is the fourth most common retinal disorder. Central serous chorioretinopathy patients present with blurred vision, central scotoma, metamorphopsia, micropsia and mild color discrimination. It is usually a self-limited disorder with nearly none or minimal visual impairment but in some patients the disease persists and may cause severe visual impairment. Central serous chorioretinopathy pathophysiology is not well understood. Choroid, retinal pigment epithelium and hormonal pathways seem to play important roles in central serous chorioretinopathy pathophysiology. Also, familial cases of the disease indicate that there is a genetic background. The identification of certain disease genes could lead to the development of better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for central serous chorioretinopathy patients.

Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Classification

Central serous chorioretinopathy is characterized by an idiopathic neurosensory detachment of the retina. This narrative review aims to discuss the classification system used for central serous chorioretinopathy. Based on our current knowledge, there is no universally adopted classification system. This is the result of the unknown aspects related to pathogenesis and clinical spectrum and evolution. The best option could be to aggregate multimodal pieces of information alongside temporal and phenotypic characteristics.

Oral Treatment of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Patients Using Propranolol Tablets

Purpose: To evaluate the pharmacological effects of propranolol treatment of patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) over 4 months. Results: Among the 89 male and 31 female patients, the mean BCVA decreased to 0.42 ± 0.08 logMAR during CSCR attacks. Oral propranolol showed good effectiveness in reducing CSCR signs after at least 4 months of treatment. The final BCVA of the patients in groups 1 and 2 was 0.09 ± 0.01 and 0.19 ± 0.03 logMAR, respectively (p < 0.05). Moreover, the mean complete remission time in groups 1 and 2 was 1.9 and 3.5 months, respectively (p < 0.05), while the “success” rate in groups 1 and 2 was 95.0% (57/60) and 78.3% (47/60), respectively (p < 0.05). The recurrence rate in groups 1 and 2 was 5.3% (3/57) and 25.5% (12/47) after a further 5 months of follow-up, respectively (p < 0.05). Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups that both underwent a visual acuity test and optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanning, between April and December 2017. The 60 patients in group 1 were requested to take propranolol for 4 months, while the other 60 subjects (group 2) received placebo therapy during the same period. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of every volunteer and an OCT image of each patient were checked and recorded at the beginning of the study and each week thereafter. If the signs of CSCR disappeared completely from the OCT scans, the case was considered a “success” and treatment stopped at once. However, the “success” subjects were further evaluated in follow-ups throughout the next 5 months to determine the rate of recurrence in groups 1 and 2. The time of total complete remission of CSCR from the OCT scans was also measured in groups 1 and 2. Conclusion: CSCR patients revealed an excellent prognosis and success rate of 95.0% after taking propranolol. The treatment was able to enhance subretinal fluid (SRF) absorption, shorten the time to total complete remission, and significantly decrease CSCR recurrence. As such, we suggest that taking propranolol may be an alternative and viable choice for CSCR patients, given that the new method was shown to be safe, cheap, effective, well tolerated and convenient.

Age-related macular degeneration masqueraders: From the obvious to the obscure

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide with increasing prevalence owing to increased life expectancy. Intravitreal injections of antivascular endothelial growth factor agents are commonly used in exudative AMD and oral antioxidant medication for nonexudative AMD; however, many disorders mimic exudative and nonexudative AMD, and misdiagnosis can seriously affect the management of these patients. We summarize the demographics and clinical and imaging characteristics of each of the conditions that masquerade as AMD. As some of the conditions have features of AMD, a short update on the classical features of AMD is also included.

Efficacy of nanosecond laser treatment in central serous chorioretinopathy with and without atrophy of retinal pigment epithelium

Background

To evaluate the outcomes of subthreshold nanosecond laser treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) as a function of the severity of concomitant of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) defects.

Methods

This retrospective study compares data from 23 CSC diagnosed eyes with only mild RPE defects (group 1), 16 CSC eyes with moderate RPE defects (group 2), and 17 CSC eyes having severe RPE defects (group 3). After subthreshold treatment with the standard Ellex 2RT™ nanosecond laser (Ellex Medical Lasers Ltd, Australia), changes in macular structure and levels of subretinal fluid (SRF) were assessed by OCT-SD, OCT-A, functional integrity of the retina was assessed by corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) and microperimetry, each at baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after initial treatment; re-treatment took place in cases of persistent SRF pro re nata.

Results

During the 12 months observation period, group 1 and 2 mostly required on initial and one re-treatment (1.9 ± 1.0 treatments; 1.9 ± 1.3 treatments). In contrast, group 3 was subject to three to four treatments (3.7 ± 1.5 treatments). 6 to 12 months after treatment, subretinal fluid (SRF) disappeared in 100% of the eyes of group 1 and in 76.9%, and 42.9% of the eyes of group 2 and group 3, respectively. Retinal sensitivity and CDVA improved in group 1 and 2, but did not change significantly in group 3 during the 12 months period.

Conclusions

Subthreshold nanosecond laser treatment is an effective and safe method for the restoration of macular anatomy and sensitivity in acute and chronic CSC cases with only mild or moderate RPE defects. However, this laser treatment has very limited outcome in CSC eyes with more severe RPE defects.

Validation of multicolor imaging signatures of central serous chorioretinopathy lesions vis-a-vis conventional color fundus photographs

Purpose

The current study compares the ability of multicolor imaging (MCI) to detect the lesions of central serous chorioretinopathy against conventional color fundus photographs (CFP).

Methods

It was a retrospective, observational case series of 93 eyes of 58 patients of central serous chorioretinopathy who underwent MCI and CFP. MCI and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were performed using Spectralis SD-OCT system (HRA + OCT). CFP was obtained using FF 450 Plus fundus camera (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Jena, Germany). SD-OCT was considered gold standard for subretinal fluid (SRF) and retinal pigment epithelium detachment (PED). CFP was considered confirmatory investigation for fibrin and blue autofluorescence image (BAF) was considered gold standard to detect retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) atrophy.

Results

CFP could detect SRF in 41 (44.1%) eyes. MCI detected SRF in 43 (46.2%) eyes. The sensitivity and specificity of MCI to detect SRF were 70.7% and 94.3%, respectively. PED was detected by CFP in 21 (22.6%) eyes and MCI in 27 (29%) eyes. The sensitivity and specificity of MCI to detect PED were 70% and 97.7% respectively. CFP could pick RPE atrophy in 52 (55.9%) eyes whereas MCI was picked it in 78 (83.9%) of eyes.

Conclusion

Both MCI and CFP were inferior to a gold standard in identifying the SRF, PED, and RPE atrophy. However, MCI was better than CFP in comparison with gold standard for these clinical findings in CSC. Thus, MCI seems to be a more valuable imaging tool compared to CFP.

Bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation secondary to thyroid carcinoma

We present a rare case of a bilateral diffuse uveal melanocytic proliferation (BDUMP), which occurred secondary to recurrence of carcinoma of thyroid in a 79-year-old gentleman who was initially misdiagnosed to have age related macular degeneration and/or chronic central serous chorioretinopathy. In spite of being treated with anti-VEGF injection and photodynamic therapy there was progressive loss of vision. Multimodal imaging like autoflourescence, infrared imaging, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine angiography, and OCT angiography helped us in clinching the final diagnosis.