NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF VITAL DYES AFTER UNEVENTFUL VITREOMACULAR SURGERY

Vital dyes have become a clinical standard during chromovitrectomy but toxicity remains an issue. We compared the clinical outcome of one supposedly toxic vital dye (AV 17 with 5% mannitol) with a standard vital dye (MBB Dual) and performed a power analysis for future comparative studies.

Retrospective analysis of 270 eyes after chromovitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling because of macular holes. Primary endpoint was loss in BCVA >2 lines and photoreceptor atrophy as seen on optical coherence tomography examination.

In 173 eyes, staining of the epiretinal membrane and extracellular matrix was performed using MBB (Group A), and in 97 using AV 17-M (Group B). The mean BCVA was not significantly different after more than 3 months and also not in the early postoperative period after surgery between Group A and Group B. The number of patients suffering from a decline in BCVA of two lines and more was not significantly higher in patients of Group B. There was not a significantly higher percentage of patients with an inner segment/outer segment defect.

Our rather homogeneous study showed no significant difference between both dyes. Thousand five hundred patients would need to be examined to find a significant difference in future studies.