Incidence of Fluorescein Angiographic Subclinical Macular Edema Following Phacoemulsification of Senile Cataracts

Fluorescein angiograms were performed in 90 patients the first and sixth week after removal of nontraumatic cataracts by phacoemulsification. The incidence of macular edema was found to be one half that reported in the literature for a comparable group of patients fol lowing intracapsular cataract extraction. The difference in incidence of macular edema between the phacoemulsification and the intracapsular groups seems dependent on the presence of the posterior capsule and perhaps the small size of the phacoincision. One of 21 maculas with angiographic evidence of edema developed clinical cystoid macular edema.