Novel gene variants in Polish patients with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA).

Background: Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare retinal disease that is the most frequent cause of congenital blindness in children and the most severe form of inherited retinal dystrophies. To date, 25 genes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of LCA. As gene therapy is becoming available, the identification of potential treatment candidates is crucial.

Novel variants identified with next-generation sequencing in Polish patients with cone-rod dystrophy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the molecular genetic basis of cone-rod dystrophy in 18 unrelated families of Polish origin. Cone-rod dystrophy is one of the inherited retinal dystrophies, which constitute a highly heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by progressive dysfunction of photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells.

Methods: The study group was composed of four groups of patients representing different Mendelian inheritance of the disease: autosomal dominant (AD), autosomal recessive (AR), X-linked recessive (XL), and autosomal recessive or X-linked recessive (AR/XL).

Differential diagnosis of Norrie disease and X-linked familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (XL-FEVR) based on clinical and molecular evaluation.

Background: Molecular analysis of the NDP gene to confirm and precise the clinical diagnosis in two patients with X-linked familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (XL-FEVR). Material and methods: We report two patients from unrelated families with NDP gene mutations: a 14-month-old boy (p1) who was found to have severe exudative vitreoretinopathy and a 4-year-old boy with exudative vitreoretinopathy (p2). An extensive clinical examination of the probands, including slit-lamp examination, B-mode ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging was conducted, along with genetic analysis of NDP gene.