Lissamine Green in Ophthalmology: A Comprehensive Review of Diagnostic and Clinical Applications

Stefano Barabino, Pasquale Aragona, Stefano Bonini, Emilia Cantera, Antonio Di Zazzo, Giuseppe Giannaccare, Andrea Leonardi, Giancarlo Montani, Alessandro Mularoni, Vincenzo Orfeo, Edoardo Villani, Fabrizio Zeri, Maurizio Rolando

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Lissamine green (LG), a diagnostic dye that stains devitalized or damaged epithelial cells, is widely used to assess ocular surface integrity, enabling the detection of inflammation, epithelial defects, and conjunctival irregularities. To explore the diagnostic and clinical applications of LG in ophthalmology, focusing on its use for ocular surface diseases, a group of experts in ophthalmology and optometry participated in an advisory board to share their clinical practice experience with the use of LG. Building on the advisory board contents, this narrative review was based on a combination of expert opinions from the roundtable discussion and a comprehensive review of the current literature. This review highlights the clinical relevance of LG as a diagnostic tool in ocular surface disease and underscores the potential of newer formulations to enhance diagnostic accuracy. In particular, the review highlights the historical development of LG use in ophthalmology and its advantages over other dyes, especially in terms of patient comfort and safety, as well as specific clinical protocols for using LG in assessing dry eye disease severity and inflammatory responses. Additionally, the review examines recent advancements in LG formulations, which enhance their utility in clinical practice, and addresses safety considerations. Potential areas for future research are also discussed, particularly in developing standardized evaluation procedures using artificial intelligence.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages12
JournalOphthalmology and Therapy
Early online date5 Jun 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 5 Jun 2025

Bibliographical note

Copyright © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

Keywords

  • Contact lenses
  • Ophthalmology
  • Lissamine green
  • Ocular surface staining
  • Tear film assessment
  • Clinical protocols

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Lissamine Green in Ophthalmology: A Comprehensive Review of Diagnostic and Clinical Applications'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this