EVALUATION OF VISUAL FUNCTION FOLLOWING ARGON-LASER PHOTOCOAGULATION IN CENTRAL SEROUS RETINOPATHY

The authors of previous studies on the role of photocoagulation for ce ntral serous chorioretinopathy (CSR) have based their deductions on th e premise that a Snellen visual acuity of 6/6 is the end point of reco very. It is now known that patients with a visual acuity of 6/6 may ha ve defective contrast sensitivity indicative of a visual function defi cit. The present study was a prospective, controlled, and randomized e valuation of patients suffering from their first attack of CSR, in whi ch contrast sensitivity was used to determine the effectiveness of arg on laser photocoagulation as compared with more conservative treatment . Although long-term studies are necessary, the results of this study showed that while photocoagulation increases the rate of recovery for visual acuity, it is also linked with significant loss and slower reco very of contrast sensitivity.