Abstract

HERNANDEZ BAGUER, Raisa et al. Clinical characteristics and evolution of retinitis pigmentosa in adolescents. Rev Cubana Oftalmol [online]. 2007, vol.20, n.2. ISSN 0864-2176.

Objectives: Identify the clinical characteristics and evolution of retinitis pigmentosa in adolescents. Method: A prospective descriptive study of adolescents aged 10 to 14 years (group I) and 15-19 years (group II) of both sexes and treated at the National Reference Center of Pediatric Retinitis Pigmentosa from 2002 to 2006.  Inheritance, initial symptoms, age, time elapsed and general concomitant diseases, FO signs by biomicroscopy and ophthalmoscopy, perimetry and ERG at the beginning, annually and at the end were all examined. Four stagings were set up according to parameters such as visual acuity with correction and CV Results: Males and Caucasians predominated in the 42 studied teenagers. DVP was present in 12 eyes (14.2), crystalline opacities were found in 61 eyes (71.4%) mainly in the group II. At the end of the study, according to the visual acuity and CV, 32 adolescents (76,2%) did not have progressive evolution of the disease, 5 (11,9%) had moderately progressive and 5 (11,9%) showed very progressive evolution since there was marked worsening of the visual function. Conclusions: The identified characteristics of retinitis pigmentosa in adolescents were within the three first stagings. Evolution was not progressive for 5 years in most of adolescents from both groups, which led us to consider that the biological changes in this period of life seem to have no influence in the course of retinitis pigmentosa.

Keywords : Retinosis pigmentosa; adolescence; night blindness.