Macular dystrophy in a Japanese family with fundus albipunctatus.

Abstract

To report a Japanese family with fundus albipunctatus and macular dystrophy associated with a mutation in the 11-cis retinol dehydrogenase (RDH5) gene. Observational case report. Ophthalmic examinations and DNA analysis were performed. The fundi of a 56-year-old man and his 51-year-old sister showed numerous yellow-white punctata. He also had bull's-eye maculopathy and prepappillary arterial loops, whereas she did not, and his best-corrected visual acuity was impaired, whereas hers was normal. Their kinetic visual fields did, however, show central or paracentral scotoma, and both had tritanomalous color vision. Their scotopic electroretinograms were typical of fundus albipunctatus, and photopic electroretinograms were significantly reduced. A homozygous Gly107Arg mutation in the RDH5 gene was detected in both siblings. We suggest that the macular dystrophy is caused by the RDH5 gene mutation as a phenotype variation in fundus albipunctatus.