The long-term visual recovery after a scleral buckling procedure for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment involving the macula was investigated retrospectively. The patients had been treated with a segmental or encircling scleral buckle procedure and in this study the follow-up period was between 5 and 11 years. In order to investigate the natural course of functional recovery of the reattached retina, all cases with a history of intraocular surgery or trauma were excluded. In this investigation, 34 patients were selected in which 35 eyes were studied. The best corrected visual acuities between a 6-month and 5-year postoperative period were compared. They were found to be more improved 5 years after surgery than after 6-month by two or more lines in 19 eyes (54%). In these 19 eyes, the visual acuities continued to improve up to 10 years after surgery. Improvement in the long-term postoperative visual acuity was found to correlate with the shorter duration of macular detachment (30 days), zero or mild myopia (-6 diopters) and to a lesser extent, retinal detachment. the visual function of the reattached human retinas may continue to improve over the long term, especially when these beneficial factors are present.