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Norrie disease and other NDP related diseases are diagnosed with the combination of clinical findings and molecular genetic testing. Molecular genetic testing identifies the mutations that cause the disease in about 85% of affected males. Clinical diagnoses rely on ocular findings. Norrie disease is diagnosed when grayish-yellow fibrovascular masses are found behind the eye from birth through three months. Doctors also look for progression of the disease from three months through 8–10 years of age. Some of these progressions include cataracts, iris atrophy, shallowing of anterior chamber, and shrinking of the globe. By this point, people with the condition either have only light perception or no vision at all.
Molecular genetic testing is used for more than an initial diagnosis. It is used to confirm diagnostic testing, for carrier testing females, prenatal diagnosis, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. There are three types of clinical molecular genetic testing. In approximately 85% of males, mis-sense and splice mutations of the NDP gene and partial or whole gene deletions are detected using sequence analysis. Deletion/duplication analysis can be used to detect the 15% of mutations that are submicroscopic deletions. This is also used when testing for carrier females. The last testing used is linkage analysis, which is used when the first two are unavailable. Linkage analysis is also recommended for those families who have more than one member affected by the disease.
On MRI the retinal dysplasia that occurs with the syndrome can be indistinguishable from persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous, or the dysplasia of trisomy 13 and Walker–Warburg syndrome.
This may be present in conditions causing traction on the retina especially at the macula. This may occur in:
a) The vitreomacular traction syndrome; b) Proliferative diabetic retinopathy with vitreoretinal traction; c) Atypical cases of impending macular hole.
Retinal detachment can be examined by fundus photography or ophthalmoscopy. Fundus photography generally needs a considerably larger instrument than the ophthalmoscope, but has the advantage of availing the image to be examined by a specialist at another location and/or time, as well as providing photo documentation for future reference. Modern fundus photographs generally recreate considerably larger areas of the fundus than what can be seen at any one time with handheld ophthalmoscopes.
Ultrasound has diagnostic accuracy similar to that of examination by an ophthalmologist. The recent meta-analysis shows the diagnostic accuracy of emergency department (ED) ocular ultrasonography is high. The sensitivity and specificity ranged from 97% to 100% and 83% to 100%. The typical feature of retinal detachment when viewed on ultrasound is "flying angel sign". It shows the detached retina moving with a fixed point under the B mode, linear probe 10 MHz.
Retinoschisis involving the central part of the retina secondary to an optic disc pit was erroneously considered to be a serous retinal detachment until correctly described by Lincoff as retinoschisis. Significant visual loss may occur and following a period of observation for spontaneous resolution, treatment with temporal peripapillary laser photocoagulation followed by vitrectomy and gas injection followed by face-down positioning is very effective in treating this condition.
A minority of retinal detachments result from trauma, including blunt blows to the orbit, penetrating trauma, and concussions to the head. A retrospective Indian study of more than 500 cases of rhegmatogenous detachments found that 11% were due to trauma, and that gradual onset was the norm, with over 50% presenting more than one month after the inciting injury.
The extent of retinal damage is assessed by fluorescent angiography, retinal scanning and optical coherence tomography; electrophysiological examinations such as electroretinography (ERG) or multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) may also be used.
Treatment is based
on the stage of the disease. Stage 1 does not
require treatment and
should be observed. 4
Neovascularization
(stage 2) responds well
to laser ablation or
cryotherapy.2,4 Eyes
with retinal detachments (stages
3 through 5) require surgery, with
earlier stages requiring scleral
buckles and later stages ultimately
needing vitrectomy. 2,4
More recently, the efficacy of
anti-VEGF intravitreal injections
has been studied. In one study,
these injections, as an in adjunct
with laser, helped early stages
achieve stabilization, but further
investigation is needed.6
FEVR is, as its name suggests,
familial and can be inherited in an
autosomal dominant, autosomal
recessive or X-linked recessive pattern.1-3 It is caused by mutations in
FZD4, LRP5, TSPAN12 and NDP
genes, which impact the wingless/
integrated (Wnt) receptor signaling
pathway. 3 Disruption of this path
way leads to abnormalities of vascu-
lar growth in the peripheral retina. 2,3
It is typically bilateral, but asymmetric, with varying degrees of
progression over the individual’s
lifetime. Age of onset varies, and
visual outcome can be strongly
influenced by this factor. Patients
with onset before age three have a
more guarded long-term prognosis
whereas those with later onset are
more likely to have asymmetric
presentation with deterioration of
vision in one eye only. 2-3 However,
because FEVR is a lifelong disease,
these patients are at risk even as
adults.2 Ocular findings and useful
vision typically remain stable if the
patient does not have deterioration
before age 20.2,4 Due to the variability and unpredictability of the
disease course, patients with FEVR
should be followed throughout
their lifetime.
Clinical presentation can vary
greatly. In mild variations, patients
may experience peripheral vascular
changes, such as peripheral avascular zone, vitreoretinal adhesions,
arteriovenous anastomoses and a
V-shaped area of retinochoroidal
degeneration. 4 Severe forms may
present with neovascularization,
subretinal and intraretinal hemorrhages and exudation. 4 Neovascularization is a poor prognostic
indicator and can lead to retinal
folds, macular ectopia and tractional retinal detachment. 2,4 Widefield FA has been crucial in
helping to understand this disease,
as well as helping to confirm the
diagnosis. An abrupt cessation
of the retinal capillary network
in a scalloped edge posterior to
fibrovascular proliferations can
be made using FA.2,3,5 Patients can
also show delayed transit filling on
FA as well as delayed/patchy choroidal filling, bulbous vascular terminals, capillary dropout, venous/venous shunting and abnormal
branching patterns. 2,3,5 The staging of FEVR is similar
to that of retinopathy of prematurity. The first two stages involve an
avascular retinal periphery with or
without extraretinal vascularization (stage 1 and 2, respectively). 4 Stages three through five delineate
levels of retinal detachment; stage 3
is subtotal without foveal involvement, stage 4 is subtotal with foveal
involvement and stage 5 is a total
detachment, open or closed funnel.4
Because there was neovascularization in the absence of retinal detachment, our patient was
considered to have
stage 2.
Treatment of Eales’ disease comprises:
1. Medical treatment:
A course of oral corticosteroids for extended periods is the main stay of treatment
during active inflammation. A course of antitubercular therapy has also been
recommended in selective cases.
2. Laser photocoagulation of the retina is indicated in stage of neovascularizion.
3. Vitreoretinal surgery is required for nonresolving vitreous haemorrhage and tractional retinal detachment.
•If active TB present - treat with ATT
•otherwise manage the vitreous hemorrhage -
Partial h’ge - postural management with propped up position
Total h’ge - Pars Plana Vitrectomy
Anomalies of the hair shaft caused by ectodermal dysplasia should be ruled out. Mutations in the CDH3 gene can also appear in EEM syndrome.
Posterior Vitreous Detachment is diagnosed via dilated eye examination. For some patients the vitreous gel is extremely clear and so it can be hard to see the PVD. In these cases, additional imaging such as Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) or ocular ultrasound are used.
Eales disease most commonly affects healthy young adults. Male predominance (up to 97.6%) has been reported in a majority of the series. The predominant age of onset of symptoms is between 20 and 30 years. The disease is now seen more commonly in the Indian subcontinent.
Non-surgical treatments of FCED may be used to treat symptoms of early disease. Medical management includes topical hypertonic saline, the use of a hairdryer to dehydrate the precorneal tear film, and therapeutic soft contact lenses. Hypertonic saline draws water out of the cornea through osmosis. When using a hairdryer, the patient is instructed to hold it at an arm's length or directed across the face on a cold setting, to dry out the epithelial blisters. This can be done two or three times a day. Definitive treatment, however, (especially with increased corneal edema) is surgical in the form of corneal transplantation. The most common types of surgery for FCED are Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) and Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK), which account for over half of corneal transplants in the United States.
More speculative future directions in the treatment of FED include in-vitro expansion of human corneal endothelial cells for transplantation, artificial corneas (keratoprosthesis) and genetic modification. Surgery where the central diseased endothelium is stripped off but not replaced with donor tissue, with subsequent Rho-Associated Kinase (ROCK) inhibition of endothelial cell division may offer a viable medical treatment.
A greater understanding of FED pathophysiology may assist in the future with the development of treatments to prevent progression of disease. Although much progress has been made in the research and treatment of FED, many questions remain to be answered. The exact causes of illness, the prediction of disease progression and delivery of an accurate prognosis, methods of prevention and effective nonsurgical treatment are all the subject of inquiries that necessitate an answer.
Increased attention must be given to research that can address the most basic questions of how the disease develops: what are the biomolecular pathways implicated in disease, and what genetic or environmental factors contribute to its progression? In addition to shaping our understanding of FED, identification of these factors would be essential for the prevention and management of this condition.
Few studies have examined the prevalence of FCED on a large scale. First assessed in a clinical setting, Fuchs himself estimated the occurrence of dystrophia epithelialis corneae to be one in every 2000 patients; a rate that is likely reflective of those who progress to advanced disease. Cross-sectional studies suggest a relatively higher prevalence of disease in European countries relative to other areas of the world. Fuchs' dystrophy rarely affects individuals under 50 years of age.
Therapy is not required or indicated in posterior vitreous detachment, unless there are associated retinal tears, which need to be repaired. In absence of retinal tears, the usual progress is that the vitreous humor will continue to age and liquefy and floaters will usually become less and less noticeable, and eventually most symptoms will completely disappear. Prompt examination of patients experiencing vitreous humor floaters combined with expeditious treatment of any retinal tears has been suggested as the most effective means of preventing certain types of retinal detachments.
A thorough diagnosis should be performed on every affected individual, and siblings should be studied for deafness, parathyroid and renal disease. The syndrome should be considered in infants who have been diagnosed prenatally with a chromosome 10p defect, and those who have been diagnosed with well defined phenotypes of urinary tract abnormalities. Management consists of treating the clinical abnormalities at the time of presentation. Prognosis depends on the severity of the kidney disease.
Along with evaluation of the symptoms and a neurological examination, a diagnosis can be made based on genetic testing. Whether or not a person is making sufficient amounts of functional glycogen branching enzyme can be determined by taking a skin biopsy and testing for activity of the enzyme. Examination of tissue biopsied from the sural nerve under a microscope can reveal the presence of polyglucosan bodies. There will also be white matter changes visible in a magnetic resonance imaging scans.
Since the early 2000s, genetic testing that measures the size of the D4Z4 deletions on 4q35 has become the preferred mechanism for confirming the presence of FSHD. As of 2007, this test is considered highly accurate but is still performed by a limited set of labs in the US, such as Athena diagnostics under test code 405. However, because the test is expensive, patients and doctors may still rely on one or more of the following tests, all of which are far less accurate and specific than the genetic test:
- Creatine kinase (CK) level: This test measures the Creatine kinase enzyme in the blood. Elevated levels of CK are related to muscle atrophy.
- electromyogram (EMG): This test measures the electrical activity in the muscle
- nerve conduction velocity (NCV): This test measures the how fast signals travel from one part of a nerve to another. The nerve signals are measured with surface electrodes (similar to those used for an electrocardiogram), and the test is only slightly uncomfortable.
- muscle biopsy: Through outpatient surgery a small piece of muscle is removed (usually from the arm or leg) and evaluated with a variety of biochemical tests. Researchers are attempting to match results of muscle biopsies with DNA tests to better understand how variations in the genome present themselves in tissue anomalies.
APBD can only be prevented if parents undergo genetic screening to understand their risk of producing a child with the condition; if in vitro fertilization is used, then preimplantation genetic diagnosis can be done to identify fertilized eggs that do not carry two copies of mutated "GBE1".
Genetic predisposition may be confirmed through a DNA test.
There is no treatment as such, owners can attempt to manage the condition though various types of hoof care, and/or the use of special shoes. Such treatment is expensive and labour-intensive. Environmental conditions can make the condition worse (alternating wet/dry hooves). Protecting the hooves from such variations may reduce the effect of the disease.
Norrie disease is a genetic disorder that primarily affects the eye and almost always leads to blindness. In addition to the congenital ocular symptoms, some patients suffer from a progressive hearing loss starting mostly in their 2nd decade of life, and some may have learning difficulties.
Patients with Norrie disease may develop cataracts, leukocoria (a condition where the pupils appear white when light is shone on them), along with other developmental issues in the eye, such as shrinking of the globe and the wasting away of the iris. Around 30 to 50% of them will also have developmental delay/learning difficulties, psychotic-like features, incoordination of movements or behavioral abnormalities. Most patients are born with normal hearing; however, the onset of hearing loss is very common in early adolescence. About 15% of patients are estimated to develop all the features of the disease.
The disease affects almost only male infants, because the disease is inherited X-linked recessive. Only in very rare cases, females have been diagnosed with Norrie disease as well. The exact incidence number is unknown; only a few hundred cases have been reported. It is a very rare disorder that is not associated with any specific ethnic or racial groups.
The frequency is unknown, but the disease is considered to be very rare.
Diagnosis is based on the demonstration of vascular lesions in large and middle-sized vessels on angiography, CT scan, magnetic resonance angiography or FDG PET. FDG PET can help in diagnosis of active inflammation not just in patients with active Takayasu arteritis prior to treatment but also in addition in relapsing patients receiving immunosuppressive agents.
Contrast angiography has been the gold standard. The earliest detectable lesion is a local narrowing or irregularity of the lumen. This may develop into stenosis and occlusion. The characteristic finding is the presence of "skip lesions," where stenosis or aneurysms alternate with normal vessels. Angiography provides information on vessel anatomy and patency but does not provide information on the degree of inflammation in the wall.
The age at onset helps to differentiate Takayasu's arteritis from other types of large vessel vasculitis. For example, Takaysu's arteritis has an age of onset of 60 years.
Takayasu arteritis is not associated with ANCA, rheumatoid factor, ANA, and anticardiolipin antibodies.
A Cochrane Review sought to evaluate the effects of perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis for endophthalmitis following cataract surgery. The review showed high-certainty evidence that antibiotic injections in the eye with cefuroxime at the end of surgery lowers the chance of endophthalmitis. Also, the review showed moderate evidence that antibiotic eye drops (levofloxacin or chloramphenicol) with antibiotic injections (cefuroxime or penicillin) probably lowers the chance of endophthalmitis compared with injections or eye drops alone. Separate studies from the research showed that a periocular injection of penicillin with chloramphenicol-suphadimidine eye drops, and an intracameral cefuroxime injection with topical levofloxacin resulted in a risk reduction of developing endophthalmitis following cataract surgery for subjects.
In the case of intravitreal injections, however, antibiotics are not effective. Studies have demonstrated no difference between rates of infection with and without antibiotics when intravitreal injections are performed. The only consistent method of antibioprophylaxis in this instance is a solution of povidone-iodine applied pre-injection.
Due to the wide range of genetic disorders that are presently known, diagnosis of a genetic disorder is widely varied and dependent of the disorder. Most genetic disorders are diagnosed at birth or during early childhood, however some, such as Huntington's disease, can escape detection until the patient is well into adulthood.
The basic aspects of a genetic disorder rests on the inheritance of genetic material. With an in depth family history, it is possible to anticipate possible disorders in children which direct medical professionals to specific tests depending on the disorder and allow parents the chance to prepare for potential lifestyle changes, anticipate the possibility of stillbirth, or contemplate termination. Prenatal diagnosis can detect the presence of characteristic abnormalities in fetal development through ultrasound, or detect the presence of characteristic substances via invasive procedures which involve inserting probes or needles into the uterus such as in amniocentesis.