Vital Dyes in Vitreoretinal Surgery

It is essential to visualize posterior hyaloid, epiretinal proliferations and internal limiting membrane during vitreoretinal surgery especially in surgeries for vitreoretinal interface diseases. Even though indirect signs and reflections may help their identification, these signs are not as reliable and effective as direct visualization of these structures in preventing traumatic surgery. Dyes which are used to stain living tissues are called vital dyes. Vitreoretinal surgery using these dyes is called ‘chromovitrectomy’. Diagnosis of vitreoretinal interface diseases was diversified, indications were widened and the number of patients was increased over the last fifteen years with widespread use of optical coherence tomography. Vital dyes became a sine qua non in todays’ vitreoretinal surgeries for vitreoretinal interface diseases. This article discusses the properties and the place of widely used dyes such as triamcinolone, trypan blue, brilliant blue G and indocyanine green.