Retinal Dystrophies part 1 and 2 Flashcards
What is the important thing to understand about retinal dystrophies ?
they are inherited
What are the retinal dystrophies caused by ?
mutations at loci on chromosome
What does it mean when retinal dystrophies can have variable penetrance/expressivity ?
this means the same mutation can be variably expressed in different people- e.g different signs and symptoms of disease even though they have the same mutation
What is an example of various different retinal dystrophies that are caused by different mutations ?
retinitis pigmentosa - group of conditions caused by a whole range of different genetic mutations- one person with his may have a very different genetic profile to another person with this.
What are degenerations in retinal dystrophies ?
they are age related macular degeneration , arcus seniles ( circle you see around the cornea in elderly) and cataract
What can retinal dystrophies affect ?
- the full macula or just the macular region
- different layers of retina- RPE or cones or just rods or choroid
What do retinal dystrophies usually affect ?
Structural Proteins
Ion Channels
Visual Cycle
Phototransduction
What are the diseases caused by retinal dystrophies affecting the full retina ?
- Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) (can be inherited in 3 different ways)
- Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA)
- Congenital Stationary Night Blindness (CSNB )
How can you get -Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP)?
it can be inherited in 3 ways
Autosomal Dominant RP
Autosomal Recessive RP
X-linked RP
What are the diseases caused by retinal dystrophies affecting the macula ?
- Bests Vitelliform
- Juvenile X-linked retinoschisis
- Autosomal dominant drusen
- Stargardt Fundus Flavaimaculatus
- Sorsby Disease
What is retinitis pigmentosa ?
Heterogeneous group of retinal disorders- not just one conditions
-Rod-cone dystrophy
Progressive dysfunction of rods, then subsequently the dysfunction of the cone photoreceptors and RPE
- (3 sub types) Dominant, recessive, X-linked and sporadic forms(means coming on as a spontaneous mutation ) caused by
Mutation of rhodopsin gene
what is the prevalence of retinitis pigmentosa?
Prevalence 1:3000 to 1:5000 (Weleber et al., 2006)
-m:f is equal
Are there any known risk factors of retinitis pigmentosa ?
- No known risk factors,
- Collection of many different genetic disorders
What are the signs of retinitis pigmentosa ?
- pigmentary changes - call it bone spicule pigmentation- which is clumping of pigment in mid periphery of the fundus
- see patches of hyper and hypo pigmentation of rpe - Thinning/attenuation of blood vessels- arteries thinner
- Pale waxy optic disk
-Bilateral involvement can be associated with : -PSC cataracts -CMO -Myopia and astigmatism
What are the symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa ?
- first symptom- night blindness called Nactylopia - due to progressive loss of rod photoreceptors
- in RPE there is progressive shortening of the outer segment of rod photoreceptors due to abnormal phagocytosis - gradual loss of rhodopsin and photoreceptors which leads to dark adapted sensitivity . - Progressive loss of peripheral vision- noticed later on - leading to tunnel visions
What is sectoral retinitis pigmentosa ?
affecting one sector of the retinal
How can we compare and distinguish this sectoral retinitis ?
from another condition called fundus albipuntactis-
What does fundus albipunctatis show ?
instead of getting darkened area of hyperpigmentation we get pale flecks across the mid peripheral retina
-characterised by poor night vision and falls under the condition congenital stationary night blindness
What is the diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa ?
- discuss with he px their family history of visual abnormality and dysfunction -genetics
- functional tests -
1. Full-field ERG (grossly abnormal in this condition )- Reduced a and b wave amplitude (rod and cone)- flat
- Dark adaptation
Grossly elevated rod and cone thresholds
Prolonged dark adaptation - visual fields-
via Kinetic Goldmann
-see Isolated scotomas 20º from fixation
-which progress onto Mid-periphery ring scotoma
-ring scotoma expands out into periphral vision and consrticts into central vision- to gradually squeeze out the remaining visual function - px left completely blind in many cases
-Tunnel vision
What are the different modes of inheritance of retinitis pigmentosa ?
- Autosomal Dominant RP
- Autosomal Recessive
- X linked RP
What is Autosomal Dominant RP caused by ?
- a Single gene mutation
- responsible for 15-25% of cases
- ~30 causative genes have been identified. Rhodopsin gene (RHO) most common.
- M=F - as it is autosomal
- 50% risk of passing onto offspring
What is Autosomal recessive RP caused by ?
- responsible 5-20% of cases
- Faulty gene must be inherited from both parents
- Can be mutation in genes including RHO (rhodopsin) gene, gene encoding alpha or beta subunit of cGMP phosphodiesterase, or the alpha subunit of the cGMP gated channel.
What is X linked RP caused by ?
- ~5-15% of RP in UK
- Most cases (70%) due to a mutation in RGPR gene on the X-chromosome
- Severe form of RP
- Childhood onset night blindness 1st decade of life
- Poor central vision
- associated with Myopia
What is X linked RP expressivity ?
- different expressivity in males and females because women have 2 X chromsomes
- and a normal copy on the one X chromosome can partially compensate for a pathological variant on the other X chromosome. - can carry the gene without showing the strong expression of the gene itself .
- Female carriers have variable expression.
What happens if you have a carrier mother and unaffected father in X linked RP?
50% of sons will be affected
50% will be unaffected
and 50% will be carriers ( will have one defective gene and one normal gene)
What else can retinitis pigmentosa be associated with ?
systemic conditions or syndromes
What are some conditions that are associated with having RP?
- if you have hearing loss with RP - Ushers syndrome- responsible for 18% of RP
- Kearns-Sayre syndrome (external ophthalmoplegia, lid ptosis, heart block)
- Bardet-Biedl syndrome (polydactyl (more fingers or toes), truncal obesity, short stature)
What is another cause of night blindness that is inherited ?
Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA)
What is Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA)?
- Autosomal recessive inheritance
- At least 20 different forms of LCA, each caused by a defect in a different gene important for normal visual function
- Variable rate of progression, prognosis poor.
- involves abnormal development of photoreceptor cells
- Prevalence ~3 in 100,000
- Presents in early childhood ~ 2 to 3/12
- Most common form of inherited sight loss in children
- Can be associated with cataract/keratonoconus
- Can have systemic associations e.g. on kidneys
What are some signs/clinical features of Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA)?
- Parents may notice lack of visual responsiveness, nystagmus, tropia, oculodigital reflex (children press on eyes)
- Nyctalopia from birth
- Photophobia
- Decreased VF from 1 yr
- VA ~ 6/36
- May be associated with high hyperopia or myopia
- Confirmed with genetic test
What are some results of tests of LCA?
- An abnormal ERG- useful way to investigate visual function in small babies
- find dramatically reduced scotopic and photopic response
- Retina may be normal
- Subtle RPE granularity
- BV attenuation
What is another condition that presents with night blindness ?
-Congenital Stationary Night Blindness (CSNB)- group of conditions caused by a whole range of different mutations
What does CSNB involve?
- it involves high myopia at a young age, nystagmus, reduced VA and strabismus are common (especially in X-linked inheritance).
- Dysfunction depends on mutation.
- Diagnosis is by ophthalmological appearance, family history, genetic testing, electroretinogram.
What is the difference in diagnosis in CSNB and RP ?
- THIS IS a non-progressive condition
- vision may be poor of CSB but it doesnt progress
What can stationary night blindness be ? look at slide 24
-CSNB- X linked and AR and AD - Usually normal fundus
Cone dark adaptation is normal, rod phase of recovery is absent.
- AR-2 conditions Oguchi diseases and fundus albipunctatius- as they present with an abnormal fundus and some RHO mutations
What is the most useful way of evaluating CSNB?
ERG