Prognosis of cystoid macular edema after retinal detachment repair

Twenty eyes of 20 patients who had undergone successful retinal detachment repair by means of microsurgery had cystoid macular edema (CME) disclosed by fluorescein angiography 10-12 weeks postoperatively. Clinical evaluation war repeated at 6-month intervals for a period of 12-30 months. Sixteen eyes were followed for at least 18 months. CME spontaneously cleared or dramatically decreased in 12 of the 16 eyes (75%), which were followed for at least 18 months. CME had spontaneously cleared in 50% of the eyes by the end of 1 year after surgery. For those eyes with transient CME, the mean visual acuity improved from 0.3 at 3 months postoperatively to 0.6 at the end of the follow-up period. The final visual acuity was 0.4 or better in 83.3% of the eyes with transient CME. None of the eyes with persistent CME developed premacular fibrosis or cystoid macular degeneration during the follow-up period. No prognostic factor for angiographic CME after repair of retinal detachment could be determined in the present series of patients.