Optical coherence tomography and cataract surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To provide an unstructured review of the recent literature on the role of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in cataract surgery with specific focus on cystoid macular edema (CME) on the basis of expert opinion of the authors.


RESULTS
OCT appears to be a useful method to reveal clinically relevant postsurgical CME and is complementary to fluorescein angiography. A majority of eyes demonstrate minimal increases in postoperative retinal thickness after cataract surgery on OCT, though those eyes that do develop clinically relevant CME show substantial increases. Using at least 40% increase in retinal thickness from baseline on OCT may be a valid, objective, and uniform method of defining CME. Preoperative and postoperative OCT evaluations in selected eyes at high risk (diabetes, uveitis) for CME may be warranted.


CONCLUSIONS
OCT has become a useful diagnostic tool to assess CME after cataract surgery.
Kim
Stephen J
SJ
Department of Ophthalmology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37232-8808, USA. Skim30@gmail.com
Bressler
Neil M
NM
D002387:Cataract Extraction / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008269:Macular Edema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000592:standards