Low incidence of side effects following intravenous fluorescein angiography

The complications that developed in 1,800 patients who underwent 2,631 fluorescein angiographies (FAs) were reviewed. In 5.4% of the patients, complications developed during 4.4% of the FAs. The patients with complications were ten years younger than the average patient undergoing the test. The rate of complications was twice as high in the male patients. Skin testing seems useless in attempting to predict allergic reactions in susceptible patients. Only one life-threatening situation, acute pulmonary edema, was found. Cases of numbness of the thumb, thrombophlebitis, pruritus of the soles and hands, and "hay-fever"-like reactions are also reported. A case of a patient in whom myocardial infarction developed one hour following the test is also discussed, but it is not believed to have been directly caused by the fluorescein injection.