What exactly is the procedure called fluorescein angiography?
Fluorescein angiography is a diagnostic procedure used to evaluate the health and function of the blood vessels in the retina at the back of your eye. This test allows your eye doctor to determine the presence and extent of damage to the eye from various disease processes, such as diabetes. During fluorescein angiography, a dye is injected into a vein in your arm. This water-soluble dye travels to your heart, where it is pumped into the arteries which circulate throughout your body. As the dye passes through the blood vessels of the retina at the back of your eye, a special camera takes a series of photographs of the retina. If these blood vessels are not normal, dye will leak into the surrounding tissues. Damage to the lining underneath the retina or the presence of any abnormal blood vessels will also be revealed. By careful examination of the angiography pictures, your doctor can identify the exact location of problems and more accurately direct treatment to those areas. This dye is
