Risk of Pseudophakic Cystoid Macular Edema in Fellow-Eye Cataract Surgeries: A Multicenter Database Study.

Purpose: To quantify the risk of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (pCME) in fellow-eye cataract surgery and to determine risk factors, including prior first-eye pCME.

Design: Retrospective, clinical database study.

Participants: Patients undergoing bilateral nonsimultaneous cataract surgeries in 8 UK National Health Service clinical centers between July 2003 and March 2015.

Methods: We excluded patients with a history of diabetic macular edema (DME) or CME and perioperative topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use in either eye. We calculated the overall risk of pCME and used Poisson model with robust estimation of standard error to identify potential risk factors for pCME in the fellow eye.

Main Outcome Measure: The risk of postoperative clinical pCME in the fellow eye.

Results: A total of 54 209 patients were included. The mean age was 74.6 ± 10.4 years, and 38.8% were male. The fellow eye developed pCME in 544 patients (1%). The risk of fellow-eye pCME among patients without first-eye pCME was 0.9%. However, the risk of fellow-eye pCME among those with first-eye pCME was 10.7%. In the fully adjusted model, we found that the risk factors for the development of fellow-eye pCME were first-eye pCME (RR, 8.55, 95% confidence interval [CI], 6.19-11.8), epiretinal membrane (ERM) (RR, 4.1, CI, 2.63-6.19), history of retinal vein occlusion (RR, 2.94, CI, 1.75-4.93), diabetes without history of DME (RR, 2.08, CI, 1.73-2.5), advanced cataract (RR, 1.75, CI, 1.16-2.65), prostaglandin analogue use preoperatively (RR, 1.49, CI, 1.13-1.97), and male sex (RR, 1.19, CI, 1.0-1.41).

Conclusions: History of pCME in the first-operated eye is the strongest independent risk factor for the development of pCME in the fellow eye. Our findings may guide clinicians in counseling patients on the risk of pCME before performing cataract surgery in the fellow eye and help in identifying high-risk patients who may benefit from prophylactic therapy.

Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.