Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) – Eye Condition Presentation

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Description of Retinitis Pigmentosa

  • RP is hereditary eye disease.
  • RP is progressive and degenerative.
  • It causes severe vision impairment.
  • RP normally leads to blindness.

Description of Retinitis Pigmentosa

The parts of the visual system affected

  • RP affects the retina.
  • Retina is a layer of light-sensitive tissue behind the eye.
  • RP impairs light-sensing cells, which result in vision loss.
  • It affects rods and cones.

The parts of the visual system affected

Affected parts
Affected parts.

Causes of RP

  • The condition is hereditary (Hamel, 2006).
  • It starts with one eye and later affects the other one with time.
  • Many cases of RP involve same family members.
  • Inheritance of RP can occur through genes (both recessive and dominant genes) or sex-linked genes (Daiger, Bowne and Sullivan, 2007).
  • There are few cases with no family history.
  • Diagnosis may occur in teenage years, but the condition may be present at birth.

Causes of RP

Symptoms and signs of RP

  • Increasing difficulty in night vision.
  • Decreased vision in low lights.
  • Difficulties in peripheral vision (side vision).
  • Peripheral vision leads to tunnel vision.
  • Tunnel vision results from a loss of visual acuity in the fields of peripheral visual, but retains visual acuity at the center.
  • Night blindness develops before tunnel vision (the difference may be several years or decades) (Koenekoop, 2003).
  • A loss of central acuity occurs in later stages (Vorvick, 2012; Hartong, Berson and Dryja, 2006).

Symptoms and signs of RP

Signs and tests

  • Color vision (Sieving and Caruso, 2008).
  • Pupil reflex response.
  • Ophthalmoscopy examination of the retina with dilated pupils.
  • Visual acuity.
  • Visual field test or Side vision test.
  • Retinal photography.
  • Slit lamp test.
  • Refraction test (Vorvick, 2012).

Signs and tests

Effects RP on the visual system

  • RP affects peripheral and central acuity leading to loss of vision (Berson, 2007).
  • Patients show cataracts and swollen retina at early ages.
  • Cataracts are removable.
  • Other conditions may exhibit similar symptoms like RP:
    • Friedreich’s ataxia;
    • Usher syndrome;
    • Laurence-Moon syndrome;
    • Myotonic dystrophy.

Effects RP on the visual system

Common treatments and medications

  • RP has no known treatment.
  • Sunglasses may protect the retina.
  • Antioxidants treatment with high doses of vitamin A palmitatets may reduce the rate of vision loss (Vorvick, 2012).
  • High doses of vitamin A can cause liver challenges (Vorvick, 2012).
  • Emerging treatments for RP include the use of omega-3 fatty acid (MedicineNet, Inc, 2013).
  • Scientists have invented microchip implants for RP. They act like microscopic video camera inside the retina.
  • This technology is in early stages of development.
  • Complete blindness may be rare.
  • RP normally progress but at a slow pace.
  • Regular visits to low-vision specialists are necessary for vision loss adaptation.

Common treatments and medications

Common treatments and medications

Prevention of RP

  • Genetic testing may predict risks of RP in children.
  • Genetic counseling may help in determining whether children will suffer RP.
  • It is important to visit health care facilities when one experiences night vision loss or when other symptoms emerge.

Prevention of RP

Summary

  • RP lasts for a lifetime.
  • Blindness progresses with age.
  • RP prognosis is poor due to lack of treatment.
  • Cataracts are common in patients with RP.
  • Cataract removal through surgery does not enhance retinal function.
  • Researchers are work on potential cures.

Summary

Summary
Retinitis Pigmentosa
Retinitis Pigmentosa
Retinitis Pigmentosa.

References

  • Berson, L. (2007). Long-term visual prognoses in patients with retinitis pigmentosa: the Ludwig von Sallmann lecture. Exp. Eye Res., 85(1), 7–14.
  • Daiger, P., Bowne, J., and Sullivan, L. (2007). Perspective on genes and mutations causing retinitis pigmentosa. Arch Ophthalmol, 125(2), 151-8.
  • Hamel, C. (2006). Retinitis pigmentosa. Orphanet J Rare Dis., 1, 40.
  • Hartong, T., Berson, L., and Dryja, P. (2006). Retinitis pigmentosa. Lancet 368(9549), 1795–809.
  • Koenekoop, R. (2003). Novel RPGR mutations with distinct retinitis pigmentosa phenotypes in French-Canadian families. American Journal of ophthalmology 136(4), 678–68.
  • MedicineNet, Inc. (2013). . Web.
  • Sieving, P., and Caruso, R. (2008). Retinitis pigmentosa and related disorders. In M. Yanoff and S. Duker (Eds.), Ophthalmology. (3rd ed.) (p. 10). Maryland Heights, Mo: Mosby Elsevier.
  • Vorvick, L. (2012). Retinitis pigmentosa. Web.
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