Prevalence of Cystoid Macular Edema After Cataract Surgery in Eyes with Previous Macular Surgery

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and risk factors for cystoid macular edema (CME) after cataract surgery in eyes that have previously undergone macular surgery. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Retrospective consecutive interventional case series. Patient medical records and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) were reviewed for eyes that underwent vitrectomy for full thickness macular hole (FTMH), lamellar macular hole (LMH) or epiretinal membrane (ERM) and subsequent cataract surgery at a large private retina practice between 2016 and 2018. RESULTS: Around 9.1% of eyes (22/243) developed CME post cataract surgery. The mean time from macular surgery to cataract surgery was 273 days (range: 87–797) in eyes with CME and 289 days (range: 22–897) in eyes without CME (p = 0.67). There was no difference in final visual acuity between eyes with CME (20/40, logMAR 0.312) and without CME (20/30, logMAR 0.206) (p = 0.101). Compared with patients with FTMH or LMH, patients with epiretinal membrane were more likely to develop post cataract CME (OR = 2.97, p = 0.031, Chi square test). CONCLUSION: In eyes with history of macular surgery, the prevalence of post cataract surgery CME was around 9.1%. The development of CME is not dependent on timing of cataract surgery but is more common in eyes with history of epiretinal membrane.