'Very late onset' cystoid macular edema

Cystoid macular edema typically manifests 4 to 16 weeks after ocular surgery. It has only rarely been documented with an onset more than 2 years postoperatively. We report four patients who developed clinically significant cystoid macular edema between 7 and 16 years after initially successful surgery. Two patients had undergone intracapsular cataract extraction, one extracapsular cataract extraction, and one a scleral buckling procedure. Although such cases of "very late onset" cystoid macular edema are uncommon, it should be considered in patients who suffer visual loss many years after ocular surgery.