Features of Henle fiber layer by spectral domain optical coherence tomography in central serous chorioretinopathy

Objective 

To observe the features of Henle fiber layer (HFL) in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted.Thirty-five CSC patients (35 eyes) treated in the Third People’s Hospital of Qingdao from January 2017 to November 2021 were enrolled.The subjects included 23 males (23 eyes) and 12 females (12 eyes), aged 24 to 60 years old, with an average age of (41.14±8.19) years, and had a CSC duration ranged from 1 day to 6 months.SD-OCT was performed on all eyes with a line scan through the central fovea horizontally.The features of HFL over subretinal fluid (SRF) area were analyzed and summarized.The study protocol adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Third People’s Hospital of Qingdao (No.2022Y0403001).

Results

In 26 eyes with regular dome-shaped neurosensory retinal detachment, HFL appeared to be delimited type 1 in 25 eyes, accounting for 96.15%, delimited type 2 in 7 eyes, accounting for 26.92%, bright in 17 eyes, accounting for 65.38% over SRF area.In 21 eyes with CSC duration≤21 days, HFL all showed delimited type 1 and some presented bright or delimited type 2 at the same time.In 5 eyes with CSC duration>21 days, HFL all showed bright and some were delimited type 1 or delimited type 2 in the meantime.In 15 eyes with symmetrical nasal and temporal retinal detachment, HFL showed symmetrical reflectivity over SRF area in horizontal OCT images in 6 eyes, and showed brighter reflectivity over nasal SRF in nasal elevated OCT images in 3 eyes and over temporal SRF in temporal elevated OCT images in 6 eyes.In 11 eyes with asymmetrical nasal and temporal retinal detachment, HFL showed brighter reflectivity over temporal SRF with larger retinal detachment range on temporal side in horizontal OCT images in 3 eyes.Of the 4 eyes with nasal elevated OCT images, the retinal detachment range was larger on temporal side and HFL showed symmetrical reflectivity over SRF area in 3 eyes, and HFL was brighter over nasal SRF area with larger retinal detachment range on nasal side in 1 eye.Of the 4 eyes with temporal elevated OCT images, the retinal detachment range was larger on nasal side and HFL showed symmetrical reflectivity over SRF area in 3 eyes, and HFL was brighter over nasal SRF area with larger retinal detachment range and higher height on nasal side in 1 eye.In 9 eyes with irregular neurosensory retinal detachment, HFL appeared to be delimited type 1 in 7 eyes, accounting for 77.78%, delimited type 2 in 5 eyes, accounting for 55.56%, bright in 6 eyes, accounting for 66.67%, dark in 4 eyes, accounting for 44.44%, and indistinct in 2 eyes, accounting for 22.22%.The detached neurosensory retina was not smooth in 7 eyes, and the phenotypes of HFL changed with the directions of detached neurosensory retina.In 2 eyes with only low neurosensory retinal detachment, HFL reflectivity on the raised side was slightly weaker than that on the lowered side.

Conclusions

HFL appears to be delimited type 1 and bright mostly over SRF area in CSC in SD-OCT images.The phenotypes of HFL vary regularly with the tilt directions of OCT images, CSC duration, and the symmetry, range, height, directional characteristics of detached neurosensory retina.

Central serous chorioretinopathy; Tomography, optical coherence, spectral domain; Henle fiber layer