Since the first report 30 years ago of “A method of photographing fluorescein in circulating blood in the retina” (Novotny HR, Alvis DL: Circulation 24:82, 1961), the uses and benefits of fluorescein angiography have been manifold. Although there have been significant improvements in equipment (cameras, film, matched exciter, and barrier filters) and technique (stereo photography, fluorescein solution concentrations, film processing), the actual method of fluorescein angiography has changed little. What has changed dramatically is the interpretation of the angiogram in light of 30 years of experience with clinical and pathologic correlation. It is the single most important, and certainly most performed, ancillary diagnostic test in retinal and choroidal diseases.

Every textbook that discusses retinal and choroidal disease will include an introductory chapter on fluorescein angiography. The topics usually covered include basic principles, equipment, technique, complications, and the interpretation of the normal fluorescein angiogram. The abnormal angiogram is discussed in schematic fashion with reference to certain diseases by example. In Duane’s Clinical Ophthalmology, Volume 3, the reader is referred to Chapter 4 by Drs. Jay L. Federman and Joseph I. McGuire entitled “Intravenous Fluorescein Angiography.”