Visual acuity loss in recessive retinitis pigmentosa and its correlation with macular lesions.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the visual acuity loss in patients with autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa and its relation to the presence of macular lesions.


METHODS
A total of 145 patients were included in the visual acuity analysis, and 139 patients were included in the analysis of their macular status. Patients with a history of parental consanguinity or an affected sister and parents unaffected with retinitis pigmentosa were considered as having an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance.


RESULTS
Regardless of age, 68 patients (47%) had visual acuity of 20/40 or better, 109 (75%) had better than 20/200 in at least 1 eye, and 36 (25%) had an acuity of 20/200 or worse in both eyes. An evaluation of the macular status demonstrated that 55 patients (39.6%) had no macular lesion and 77 (55.4%) had an atrophic lesion (either bull's-eye or geographic). Seventy-five percent of patients with no macular lesion had a visual acuity of 20/40 or better and 34 patients (44%) with an atrophic lesion had a visual acuity better than 20/70.


CONCLUSIONS
These data can be useful to counsel patients on the potential visual acuity impairment likely to be observed at different ages and identify the association of visual acuity loss with macular changes.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Azzrah
A
Thobani
Gerald A
GA
Fishman
Mohamed
M
Genead
Anastasios
A
Anastasakis
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D004596:Electroretinography; D005260:Female; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012174:Retinitis Pigmentosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Am J Ophthalmol. 1980 May;89(5):692-8
7377267
Ophthalmology. 1996 Oct;103(10):1593-600
8874431
Eye (Lond). 2009 Apr;23(4):915-9
18425064
Lancet. 2006 Nov 18;368(9549):1795-809
17113430
Ophthalmology. 1999 Sep;106(9):1780-5
10485550
Retina. 2001;21(6):639-46
11756888