Double-masked trial of fenoprofen sodium: treatment of chronic aphakic cystoid macular edema.

Aphakic cystoid macular edema is a serious eye disease. Its etiology is unknown, but a widely held theory attributes it to an inflammatory response to surgical trauma. In a double-masked study, a 1% solution of fenoprofen sodium, a topically applied antiprostaglandin agent, was evaluated against placebo in determining the effectiveness of fenoprofen in the treatment of chronic aphakic cystoid macular edema. Fourteen patients, five women and nine men, participated in the study. Fenoprofen sodium was found to have no effect on the course of chronic aphakic cystoid macular edema. We believe that the lack of effect may have been due to the duration of edema at the time of treatment or to the small sample size. Larger studies in the immediate postoperative period are suggested. The importance of iris angiography as a possible predicting technique of macular leakage is emphasized.