What was supposed to be a routine doctor’s appointment turned into a strange experience for a woman when her eyes unexpectedly turned bright green following the consultation. Artist and photographer Margerita B. Wargola said she “blinked and everything went yellow.” She explained that the nurse who examined her was surprised and admitted that she had made a mistake during the eye exam. Where the nurse made an error was when she forgot to ask Margerita whether she was wearing contact lenses. Fluorescein is a dye applied to the outer surface of the eye to diagnose certain conditions. The substance is also used as a contrast dye for retinal angiography, an imaging test of the retina, the layer of tissue at the back of the eye. The fluorescent dye is injected directly into a vein in the arm and then travels to the blood vessels in the retina, highlighting them so doctors can look for conditions that might affect the patient’s vision. In Margerita’s case, the nurse used it as an eye drop to check to see if there was any erosion on the surface of the cornea, which can occur with the use of contacts. Asked whether Margerita would experience any harmful side effects after the incident, ophthalmologist Mark Gillies said, “Usually, the lenses would be removed before fluorescein, but I doubt she will come to any great harm.” Unfortunately, Margerita will have to throw away her stained contact lenses. Fortunately, she laughed off the accident, which she said caused her to temporarily see everything “with a kind of green tint.”
