Patent blue: a novel vital dye in vitreoretinal surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To determine a novel vital dye (patent blue; Blueron) for vitreoretinal surgery in a prospective consecutive case series.


METHODS
Five patients with either idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM; n = 2), proliferative vitreoretinopathy (n = 2), or a macular hole (n = 1) underwent a three-port pars plana vitrectomy. Patent blue assisted staining of the retinal surface followed by a consecutive peeling of the ERM (n = 4) or of the internal limiting membrane (ILM; n = 1) was performed. The main outcome measures were quality of intraoperative visualization of preretinal structures and postoperative visual acuity.


RESULTS
The dye induced a moderate staining (++) of the ERM and a mild staining (+) of the ILM. Complete ERM and ILM removal was successfully achieved in all cases. A mean visual improvement of three Snellen lines was observed 6 months postoperatively. No visual field defects or visible retinal pigment epithelial changes were present 6 months postoperatively.


CONCLUSIONS
Patent blue, a novel dye for intraocular applications, may be added as an alternative dye in chromovitrectomy.
Mennel
Stefan
S
Department of Ophthalmology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany. stefan.mennel@lycos.com
Meyer
Carsten H
CH
Tietjen
Andreas
A
Rodrigues
Eduardo B
EB
Schmidt
Jörg C
JC