Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2026
Characterization of Vascular Morphology of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration by Indocyanine Green Angiography
Published on: August 11, 2023
Effects of intravitreal indocyanine green injection in rabbits
Mauricio Maia1, Eyal Margalit, Rohit Lakhanpal
1Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 550 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
Purpose:
To report the clinical, electrophysiologic, and histologic findings of different concentrations of indocyanine green (ICG) injected into the vitreous cavity of rabbit eyes.
Methods:
Forty-two rabbits underwent intravitreal injection of 0.1 mL of ICG in three different concentrations: 0.5 mg/mL (250 mOsm), 5 mg/mL (270 mOsm), and 25 mg/mL (170 mOsm). Fellow eyes were injected with 0.1 mL of balanced salt solution. Biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, electroretinography, fluorescein angiography, and histologic evaluation were performed.
Results:
Eyes injected with 0.5 mg/mL of ICG showed b-wave latency delay on the first day after injection. Eyes injected with 5 mg/mL of ICG showed b-wave latency delay and decreased b-wave amplitude on the first and seventh days after injection; delayed a-wave latency on the first day after injection was also observed. Eyes injected with 25 mg/mL of ICG showed b- and a-wave amplitude and latency abnormalities during the entire follow-up. Direct correlation of increasing retinal edema proportional to the progressively increasing ICG concentrations was shown on histologic evaluation.
Conclusion:
Intravitreal ICG injection in rabbit eyes may impair retinal function and morphology proportional to the progressively increasing ICG dosages.
