The eyes of 78 patients who underwent retinal detachment microsurgery (82 eyes) were prospectively evaluated postoperatively with fluorescein angiography. Of these 14.6% showed angiographic evidence of cystoid macular oedema (CMO.). A significantly greater risk of developing cmo was discovered in aphakic eyes (30% CMO.) as compared to phakic eyes (7% CMO.) and in eyes where the maculae were detached pre-operatively (23% CMO.), as compared to eyes where the maculae were attached pre-operatively (5% CMO.). Eyes which had undergone several surgical procedures for retinal reattachment (38% CMO.) were compared to eyes which had undergone only one surgical procedure (6.5% CMO.). It was found that 4.9% of the 82 eyes showed cellophane premacular membrane without dye leakage. A further 6% of the eyes showed premacular membranes associated with dye leakage. No statistically significant risk factor associated with the development of macular pucker was disclosed in this series.