X-linked retinitis pigmentosa. Profile of clinical findings.

An evaluation of 56 patients with X-linked retinitis pigmentosa revealed a profile of findings that include the following: night blindness within the first two decades of life; spherical refractive errors of -2.00 diopters or greater in addition to an increased prevalence of a cylindrical correction of +1.50 diopters or greater; appreciable impairment of central visual acuity to 20/200 or less by the fifth decade of life; characteristic patterns of field loss; presence of a foveal lesion in up to 75% of the study group; posterior subcapsular lens opacities; and nondetectable electroretinographic amplitudes in more than two thirds of the patients (using conventional full-field recording procedures). These observations are of general value in diagnosis of this disease and for counseling of patients afflicted with this severe form of hereditary night blindness.