title: Idiopathic photoreceptor dysfunction causes unexplained visual acuity loss in later adulthood.
abstract: Progressive visual loss, caused by initially unrecognized retinal photoreceptor dysfunction predominantly affecting cones, developed in six patients in late adulthood. Because of minimal ophthalmoscopic retinal abnormalities, the patients initially had been suspected of having optic neuropathy or psychogenic visual loss. The correct diagnosis was ultimately established by finding electroretinographic abnormalities and color discrimination losses out of proportion to visual acuity loss. In no case was a causative agent or a family history of photoreceptor disease identified. In many other respects, however, features of the patients' illness resemble those described previously under the headings of cone dysfunction syndrome, cone dystrophy, cone degeneration, and cone-rod dystrophy.
authors.affiliation: W. K. Kellogg Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor 48105.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Trobe
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Sieving
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003117:Color Vision Defects / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D003623:Dark Adaptation; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D005654:Fundus Oculi; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology*