Phenotypic heterogeneity in family members of patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

PURPOSE: To describe the phenotypic variations in family members of patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) with different modes of inheritance and to assess the ocular abnormalities in RP families.

METHODS

A descriptive analysis of three types of inheritance of RP was carried out, where 64 family members were examined at a tertiary eye care center, South India. They underwent comprehensive eye examination, fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), full-field electroretinogram (FFERG), and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Analysis was performed between mild and severe forms of abnormalities to delineate retinal structural and functional defects in RP families.

RESULTS

The mean age was 38.55 ± 17.95 years. Males were 48.4%. In autosomal recessive and X-linked recessive groups, 74.2% and 77.3%, respectively, were asymptomatic, whereas in autosomal dominant group, 27.3% were asymptomatic. The proportion of the cases with abnormalities in all three groups was higher on ERG (59.6%), followed by OCT (57.5%), visual acuity (43.7%), peripheral FAF (23.5%), and macular FAF (11.8%). However, these abnormalities and the clinical pictures of the family members had no statistical difference across the three groups of inheritance.

CONCLUSION

Structural and functional retinal alterations were noted in four out of five asymptomatic members, suggesting the need for careful screening of RP families and the pressing need for pre-test (genetic) counseling.