• Sixty eyes of 58 patients who underwent scleral buckling procedures were prospectively evaluated with postoperative fluorescein angiograms. Forty-three percent of these eyes showed angiographic cystoid macular edema (CME). Aphakic patients showed a 64% incidence of cystoid compared with phakic patients, who had a 28% incidence. Cystoid macular edema did not affect the final visual acuity of aphakic patients but significantly reduced the visual recovery in the phakic group. The incidence of CME was not related to preoperative foveal detachment, duration of aphakia, duration of detachment, surgical approach, or refraction.