Macular edema associated with intraocular ointment after cataract surgery

PURPOSE: To report a case with macular edema associated with uveitis, a decreased corneal endothelial cell density, and vitreous opacity caused by migrated intraocular antibiotic ointment after uneventful cataract surgery. OBSERVATIONS: A 63-year-old man underwent uneventful sutureless superior clear corneal phacoemulsification and implantation of an intraocular lens in his right eye. Eleven months later, he complained of blurred vision when he gazed downward. Three months later, uveitis, vitreous opacity, and retinal hemorrhage were noted. Optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography demonstrated macular edema in the right eye. A slit-lamp examination revealed many tiny oily deposits on the iris surface. One month later, a globular oily droplet was detected at the 12 o'clock position of the iridocorneal angle. Because the corneal endothelial cell density appeared to be progressively decreased, the oily droplet was removed, and the anterior chamber was irrigated with a balanced salt solution using an irrigation-aspiration cannula. After surgery, the macular edema, vitreous opacity, and retinal hemorrhage disappeared. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPORTANCE: In this case, ofloxacin ointment had presumably migrated into the anterior chamber through a corneal incision after cataract surgery. The fact that the droplet of ointment was able to be detected more than one year after the cataract surgery suggests that dispersed tiny droplets can slowly coalesce into a globular droplet and wander between the anterior and posterior chambers, thereby causing uveitis, corneal endothelial cell damage, and macular edema. The removal of the intraocular ointment resolved these complications. This is the second report of intraocular ointment causing macular edema.