title: Retrospective longitudinal study of visual acuity change in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the extent that clinically evident macular lesions in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) help to establish their prognosis for visual acuity (VA) retention.
  
  
  METHODS
  The records of 182 patients with RP were reviewed. The macular lesion status at the initial examination was determined to be no lesion, a bull's-eye atrophic lesion, or a geographic atrophic lesion. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship of initial VA, macular lesion type, and RP genetic subtype to predict the VA change per 5-year period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The regression effect of lesion type on the VA change was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). Patients with no macular lesion had a predicted 5-year change of less than 1 line, whereas those with either a bull's-eye or geographic atrophic lesion had a predicted 5-year change of three to four lines. The 5-year changes were not related to a patient's age or level of VA at initial presentation, when controlling for type of macular lesion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  By examining longitudinal data, the authors found that the presence or absence of a macular lesion at the patient's initial visit was an important determinant of VA loss in this cohort of patients with RP. These findings are of value when counseling patients with RP regarding their prognosis for preservation of VA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Fishman
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*