Chromovitrectomy and the Vitreoretinal Interface

It still remains unclear to which extent the presence and the
amount ofretinal debris seen in internal limiting membrane (ILM)
specimensharvested during macular surgery for macular holes or
epiretinalmembranes are related to the procedure of ILM peeling
itself or tomodifications of the surgical technique, such as
application of vitaldyes for visualization of the ILM, or to
pathological conditions withepiretinal membrane formation at the
vitreoretinal interface. Thepresence of cellular fragments on the
retinal side of the removed ILMappears to be of multifactorial
origin, and additional causes besidesdye application need to be
considered. However, morphological studieswith evaluation of vital
dyes are still of relevance and provideadditional insights into the
ultrastructure of the vitreoretinalinterface and its interaction
with adjuvants used during macularsurgery. Chromovitrectomy is an
emerging field in vitreoretinal surgery.It is of importance to
better understand the tissue-dye interactions,which not only alter
the mechanical properties of the tissue beingstained, but may also
have an impact on the functional resultpostoperatively.