Prevalence of choroidal nevi in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy.

BACKGROUND: A number of articles report the association of polypoidal lesions and choroidal nevi; however, the relationship between choroidal nevi and pachychoroidal disorders has not been studied.

OBJECTIVES: To study the prevalence of choroidal nevi in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) patients and to elucidate potential differences in the clinical characteristics of CSCR in patients with and without choroidal nevi.

DESIGN: Case-control study.

METHODS: This study included a retrospective analysis of medical records and multimodal imaging data of CSCR patients and a prospective evaluation of the prevalence of the choroidal nevi in age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All participants received comprehensive ophthalmic examination and multimodal imaging including infrared scanning laser ophthalmoscopy in dark-field mode to detect choroidal nevi in the central 40° × 60° region.

RESULTS: A total of 199 CSCR patients (160 males and 39 females, 47.9 ± 9.4 years) and 184 age-matched healthy individuals (139 males and 45 females, 44.8 ± 12.5 years) were included. Choroidal nevi were detected in 24 (12.1%) CSCR patients and 10 (5.4%) healthy controls ( p  = 0.01). CSCR patients with choroidal nevi had statistically significantly higher subfoveal choroidal thickness, lower best-corrected visual acuity, and lower central retinal thickness ( p  < 0.05) than CSCR patients without choroidal nevi. The odds ratio for the presence of chronic CSCR in patients with choroidal nevi was 27.0 (95% CI: 3.1-231.9, p  = 0.003).

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of choroidal nevi among patients with CSCR is higher than in age- and sex-matched healthy population. Choroidal nevi may be associated with chronic CSCR.