Nine foveal hypoplasia patients in a family / 中华眼底病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the clinical features of nine foveal hypoplasia (FVH) patients in a family.Methods:A retrospective clinical study. In August 2018, nine patients with FVH from a family diagnosed in Qilu Hospital of Shandong University (Qingdao) were included in this study. Detailed medical history of the proband was collected. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), slit-lamp, cycloplegic refraction, fundus color photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) were performed on the proband. The peripheral venous blood of V7 (family member), the proband and the proband's parents were collected for DNA extraction, and gene detection was performed.Results:The proband, a four-year-old girl, had poor vision with BCVA of 0.4 in both eyes. OCT showed absence of foveal pit, absence of outer segment lengthening, absence of outer nuclear layer widening and incursion of inner retinal layers. The proband's mother was 32 years old, and macular foveal reflection was not observed in her eyes. OCT and OCTA examination showed no foveal pit and foveal avascular zone in both eyes. Both eyes of the proband and her mother were diagnosed with Thomas grade 4 FVH. The other seven patients also had no foveal pit, and could be categorized into Thomas grade 3 or 4. No significant pathogenic genes and mutation sites were detected in the proband through whole genome sequencing, and no copy number variation or chromosomal abnormality associated with the phenotype of the proband was detected. After seven months of amblyopia treatment, the proband's BCVA had improved to 0.5 in the right eye and 0.6 in the left eye, while the BCVA did not change after 2 years of follow-up.Conclusion:Nine FVH patients in this family had no foveal pit with similar OCT images, and their visual acuity was affected from lightly to severely. Early amblyopia training is helpful to improve the visual acuity of child patients.