Peripheral corneal edema after cataract extraction.

Twenty-six eyes in 16 patients with aphakic peripheral corneal edema showed most of the signs described in 1969 by Brown and McLean in a syndrome they called "peripheral corneal edema after cataract extraction," consisting mainly of aphakia, marginal corneal edema, and discrete orange punctate pigmentation of the endothelial surface of the edematous areas. The syndrome was observed in 21 eyes after intracapsular cataract extraction, in three eyes after extracapsular surgery, and in two eyes with spontaneous absorption of the lens. In one case the spontaneous absorption of the lens was attributable to trauma, and in the other it was seen in association with congenital rubella syndrome. There was a high incidence of myopia (61%) in the affected eyes in this series.