What are retinal dystrophies?

Retinal dystrophies (RD) are a group of degenerative disorders of the retina with clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Common presentations include color blindness or night blindness, peripheral vision abnormalities, and subsequent progression to complete blindness in progressive conditions.

Do all retinal dystrophies cause night blindness?

All IRDs cause some type of vision loss, but the type and speed of that loss are different for each disease. For example, retinitis pigmentosa is a very slow disease that lessens things like night and reading vision, but rarely leads to complete loss of sight.

Is retinal dystrophy the same as retinitis pigmentosa?

When damage to the photoreceptor cells occur, the retina is unable to function properly and struggles to process and transmit sight information to the brain. The most common retinal dystrophy in Australia is the group of condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa.

What are the types of macular dystrophy?

Types of Macular Dystrophy Stargardt’s, the most common type of macular dystrophy, which usually occurs in childhood. A different form of Stargardt’s, called fundus flavimaculatus, typically is found in adults. Stargardt’s is characterized by formation of pigmented waste cells in the retina.

What does Choroideremia mean?

Choroideremia is a condition characterized by progressive vision loss that mainly affects males. The first symptom of this condition is usually an impairment of night vision (night blindness), which can occur in early childhood.

What is fundus Albipunctatus?

Fundus albipunctatus is an eye disorder characterized by an impaired ability to see in low light (night blindness) and the presence of whitish-yellow flecks in the retina, which is the specialized light-sensitive tissue in the inner lining of the back of the eye (the fundus).

Is retinal dystrophy genetic?

Retinal dystrophies are genetic in origin, meaning that they can be transmitted from generation to generation through different types of inheritance. Dominant inheritance: all generations of a family are usually affected because the carriers of the mutation responsible for the disease have the condition.

Is retinitis pigmentosa a dystrophy?

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited retinal dystrophy caused by the loss of photoreceptors and characterized by retinal pigment deposits visible on fundus examination. Prevalence of non syndromic RP is approximately 1/4,000.

What is Vitelliform retinal dystrophy?

Vitelliform macular dystrophy is a genetic eye disorder that can cause progressive vision loss. This disorder affects the retina , the specialized light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye.

Is macular dystrophy bilateral?

Macular dystrophies (MDs) consist of a heterogeneous group of disorders that are characterised by bilateral symmetrical central visual loss.