Extensive macular atrophy with pseudodrusen-like appearance (EMAP) clinical characteristics, diagnostic criteria, and insights from allied inherited retinal diseases and age-related macular degeneration.

Extensive macular atrophy with pseudodrusen-like appearance (EMAP) was first described in France in 2009 as a symmetric and rapidly progressive form of macular atrophy primarily affecting middle-aged individuals. Despite the recent identification of a significant number of cases in Italy and worldwide, EMAP remains an underrecognized condition. The clinical triad typical of EMAP consists of vertically oriented macular atrophy with multilobular borders, pseudodrusen-like deposits across the posterior pole and mid-periphery, and peripheral pavingstone degeneration.

Generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell lines from a subject with UBAP1L-associated retinal dystrophy and CRISPR/cas9-corrected isogenic iPSC lines.

A Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) line was generated from dermal fibroblasts of a patient affected with an autosomal recessive retinal dystrophy carrying the homozygous c.910-7G>A variant in UBAP1L. Three isogenic control iPSC lines derived from this affected subject line were created using CRISPR/Cas9 engineering.

Expanding the genetic landscape of Usher syndrome type IV caused by pathogenic ARSG variants.

Usher syndrome (USH) is the most common cause of deafblindness. USH is autosomal recessively inherited and characterized by rod-cone dystrophy or retinitis pigmentosa (RP), often accompanied by sensorineural hearing loss. Variants in >15 genes have been identified as causative for clinically and genetically distinct subtypes.

RDH5 and RLBP1-Associated Inherited Retinal Diseases: Refining the Spectrum of Stationary and Progressive Phenotypes.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical, functional, and imaging characteristics in patients affected by inherited retinal diseases associated with RDH5 and RLBP1 gene variants, and to report novel genotype-phenotype correlations.

Design: Retrospective single-center cohort study.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with molecularly confirmed RLBP1-associated retinopathy and 5 with RDH5-associated retinopathy.

Extensive Macular Atrophy with Pseudodrusen-like appearance: Progression Kinetics and Late-Stage Findings.

Purpose: To describe the clinical outcome and late-stage findings of extensive macular atrophy with pseudodrusen-like appearance (EMAP).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Seventy-eight patients (156 eyes) affected by EMAP.

Coding and non-coding variants in the ciliopathy gene cause early-onset non-syndromic retinal degeneration.

Inherited retinal degenerations are blinding genetic disorders characterized by high genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity. The implementation of next-generation sequencing in routine diagnostics, together with advanced clinical phenotyping including multimodal retinal imaging, have contributed to the increase of reports describing novel genotype-phenotype associations and phenotypic expansions. In this study, we describe sixteen families with early-onset non-syndromic retinal degenerations in which affected probands carried rare bi-allelic variants in , a ciliary gene previously associated with syndromic recessive Jeune syndrome.

Generation of gene corrected human isogenic iPSC lines (IDVi003-A_CR13, IDVi003-A_CR21, IDVi003-A_CR24) from an inherited retinal dystrophy patient-derived IPSC line ITM2B-5286-3 (IDVi003-A) carrying the ITM2B c.782A > C variant using CRISPR/Cas9.

The ITM2B-related retinal dystrophy (ITM2B-RD) was identified within patients carrying the autosomal dominant variant [c.782A > C, p.(Glu261Ala)] in ITM2B from whom induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC) lines were previously generated.

Association of Missense Variants in VSX2 With a Peculiar Form of Congenital Stationary Night Blindness Affecting All Bipolar Cells.

Importance: Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is an inherited stationary retinal disorder that is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. To date, the genetic association between some cases with CSNB and an unusual complex clinical picture is unclear.

Objective: To describe an unreported CSNB phenotype and the associated gene defect in 3 patients from 2 unrelated families.

Retrospective Natural History Study of -Related Cone- and Cone-Rod Dystrophies While Expanding the Mutation Spectrum of the Disease.

Variants in the X-linked retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator gene ( and, specifically, in its retinal opening reading frame-15 isoform () may cause rod-cone (RCD), cone, and cone-rod dystrophies (CDs and CRDs). While -related RCDs have been frequently evaluated, the characteristics and progression of -related CD/CRDs are largely unknown. Therefore, the goal of our work was to perform genotype-phenotype correlations specifically in -related CD/CRDs.

Large Benefit from Simple Things: High-Dose Vitamin A Improves -Related Retinal Dystrophy.

Inherited retinal diseases (IRD) are a group of heterogeneous disorders, most of which lead to blindness with limited therapeutic options. Pathogenic variants in RBP4, coding for a major blood carrier of retinol, retinol-binding protein 4, are responsible for a peculiar form of IRD. The aim of this study was to investigate if retinal function of an RBP4-related IRD patient can be improved by retinol administration.

Mutated Coding for a Mitochondrial Protein, MITOK Is a Candidate Gene Defect for Autosomal Recessive Rod-Cone Dystrophy.

The purpose of this work was to identify the gene defect underlying a relatively mild rod-cone dystrophy (RCD), lacking disease-causing variants in known genes implicated in inherited retinal disorders (IRD), and provide transcriptomic and immunolocalization data to highlight the best candidate. The DNA of the female patient originating from a consanguineous family revealed no large duplication or deletion, but several large homozygous regions. In one of these, a homozygous frameshift variant, c.

CNGB1-related rod-cone dystrophy: A mutation review and update.

Cyclic nucleotide-gated channel β1 (CNGB1) encodes the 240-kDa β subunit of the rod photoreceptor cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel. Disease-causing sequence variants in CNGB1 lead to autosomal recessive rod-cone dystrophy/retinitis pigmentosa (RP). We herein present a comprehensive review and analysis of all previously reported CNGB1 sequence variants, and add 22 novel variants, thereby enlarging the spectrum to 84 variants in total, including 24 missense variants (two of which may also affect splicing), 21 nonsense, 19 splicing defects (7 at noncanonical positions), 10 small deletions, 1 small insertion, 1 small insertion-deletion, 7 small duplications, and 1 gross deletion.

Near-infrared fundus autofluorescence alterations correlate with swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography findings in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

Thirty-eight patients from 37 families with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) underwent macular 6 × 6-mm swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) and 30° near-infrared fundus autofluorescence (NIR-FAF) acquisitions in one eye. Superficial vascular complex (SVC), deep capillary complex (DCC) and choriocapillaris (CC) angiograms were registered with NIR-FAF acquisitions to comparatively assess subjects with and without central area of preserved NIR-FAF (APA). On the subset of patients showing an APA, the vessel densities for SVC and DCC and flow deficits for CC were assessed in three directions (superior, inferior and temporal) from the fovea and compared to healthy 1:1 age-matched controls.

CHM mutation spectrum and disease: An update at the time of human therapeutic trials.

Choroideremia is an X-linked inherited retinal disorder (IRD) characterized by the degeneration of retinal pigment epithelium, photoreceptors, choriocapillaris and choroid affecting males with variable phenotypes in female carriers. Unlike other IRD, characterized by a large clinical and genetic heterogeneity, choroideremia shows a specific phenotype with causative mutations in only one gene, CHM. Ongoing gene replacement trials raise further interests in this disorder.

Retinal Phenotype of Patients With Isolated Retinal Degeneration Due to CLN3 Pathogenic Variants in a French Retinitis Pigmentosa Cohort.

Importance: Biallelic variants in CLN3 lead to a spectrum of diseases, ranging from severe neurodegeneration with retinal involvement (juvenile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis) to retina-restricted conditions.

Objective: To provide a detailed description of the retinal phenotype of patients with isolated retinal degeneration harboring biallelic CLN3 pathogenic variants and to attempt a phenotype-genotype correlation associated with this gene defect.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort study included patients carrying biallelic CLN3 variants extracted from a cohort of patients with inherited retinal disorders (IRDs) investigated at the National Reference Center for Rare Ocular Diseases of the Centre Hospitalier National d'Ophtalmologie des Quinze-Vingts from December 2007 to August 2020.

Spectrum of Disease Severity in Patients With X-Linked Retinitis Pigmentosa Due to RPGR Mutations.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to perform a detailed longitudinal phenotyping of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (RP) caused by mutations in the RPGR gene during a long follow-up period.

Methods: An Italian cohort of 48 male patients (from 31 unrelated families) with RPGR-associated RP was clinically assessed at a single center (mean follow-up = 6.5 years), including measurements of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), Goldmann visual field (GVF), optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), microperimetry, and full-field electroretinography (ERG).

WDR34, a candidate gene for non-syndromic rod-cone dystrophy.

Rod-cone dystrophy (RCD), also called retinitis pigmentosa, is characterized by rod followed by cone photoreceptor degeneration, leading to gradual visual loss. Mutations in over 65 genes have been associated with non-syndromic RCD explaining 60% to 70% of cases, with novel gene defects possibly accounting for the unsolved cases. Homozygosity mapping and whole-exome sequencing applied to a case of autosomal recessive non-syndromic RCD from a consanguineous union identified a homozygous variant in WDR34.

Loss of Function of RIMS2 Causes a Syndromic Congenital Cone-Rod Synaptic Disease with Neurodevelopmental and Pancreatic Involvement.

Congenital cone-rod synaptic disorder (CRSD), also known as incomplete congenital stationary night blindness (iCSNB), is a non-progressive inherited retinal disease (IRD) characterized by night blindness, photophobia, and nystagmus, and distinctive electroretinographic features. Here, we report bi-allelic RIMS2 variants in seven CRSD-affected individuals from four unrelated families. Apart from CRSD, neurodevelopmental disease was observed in all affected individuals, and abnormal glucose homeostasis was observed in the eldest affected individual.

Peripapillary Sparing With Near Infrared Autofluorescence Correlates With Electroretinographic Findings in Patients With Stargardt Disease.

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between the quantification of peripapillary sparing and electroretinogram (ERG) outcomes in autosomal recessive Stargardt disease (STGD1).

Methods: Near infrared fundus autofluorescence (NIR-FAF) images of 101 eyes of 101 patients were retrospectively reviewed. Peripapillary sparing was assessed both qualitatively and quantitatively.

Generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell lines from a patient with ITM2B-related retinal dystrophy and a non mutated brother.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines were generated from fibroblasts of a patient affected with an autosomal dominant retinal dystrophy carrying the mutation c.782A>C, p.Glu261Ala in ITM2B and from an unaffected brother.

Prevalence of Deep-Intronic Variants and Related Phenotype in An Unsolved "One-Hit" Cohort with Stargardt Disease.

We investigated the prevalence of reported deep-intronic variants in a French cohort of 70 patients with Stargardt disease harboring a monoallelic pathogenic variant on the exonic regions of . Direct Sanger sequencing of selected intronic regions of ABCA4 was conducted. Complete phenotypic analysis and correlation with the genotype was performed in case a known intronic pathogenic variant was identified.