The optic disc in Leber congenital amaurosis

Visual system electrodiagnosis in neurologic disease of childhood

Electrodiagnostic examination of the visual system includes visual evoked potentials and electroretinography. These tests can be applied to all ages. Pitfalls in the clinical ophthalmologic examination of children, such as optic nerve pallor and pigmentary retinopathy, can be clarified by these tests. Investigation of neurodegenerative disease may be directed to the most likely defect by results of visual evoked potential testing and electroretinography. The child who is unable to meaningfully communicate sensory experience can be objectively evaluated by these studies. Familiarity with the applications and limitations of these tests will allow the examiner to choose the appropriate setting and time to apply each of them.

The ocular pathology in Leber's congenital amaurosis

PURPOSE

To present the ocular pathology of a three-year-old child with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) who died from an unrelated episode of presumed viral meningitis.

METHODS

Autopsy was performed, and in addition the globes were harvested for pathological examination. Before the child's death, known systemic disorders with infantile retinal dystrophy were excluded.

RESULTS

The outer nuclear layer and photoreceptor layers are the primary site of retinal pathology in LCA.

CONCLUSION

This report of the pathological findings in LCA, early in the natural history of the disease, indicates that process appears to be a degeneration rather than an agenesis.