We reviewed 1,136 cases of retinal detachment in 1,073 patients. Late recurrence was defined as the reappearance of subretinal fluid after at least 6 months of clear, total reattachment. Fifty-one patients (4.75%) had a late recurrence. New or reopened peripheral breaks were either definitely observed or presumed to be present in 40 eyes (78.5%), and none were definite peripheral holes or retinal dialyses. Three macular holes reopened after having initially been managed by vitrectomy. One additional macular hole occurred as a new break. Late severe proliferative vitreoretinopathy occurred in the last 7 cases. Only vitrectomy for initial detachment and lens extraction after reattachment correlated with late recurrence. Vitrectomy was still a significant risk factor when macular holes were excluded.