Cone—rod Dystrophy—Retinal Disorders

The retina is a layer of tissue in the back of your eye that senses light and sends images to your brain. In the center of this nerve tissue is the macula. It provides the sharp, central vision needed for reading, driving and seeing fine detail.

Retinal disorders affect this vital tissue. They can affect your vision, and some can be serious enough to cause blindness. Examples are

• Macular degeneration – a disease that destroys your sharp, central vision
• Diabetic eye disease
• Retinal detachment – a medical emergency, when the retina is pulled away from the back of the eye
• Retinoblastoma – cancer of the retina. It is most common in young children.
• Macular pucker – scar tissue on the macula
• Macular hole – a small break in the macula that usually happens to people over 60
• Floaters – cobwebs or specks in your field of vision

NIH: National Eye Institute

• Amaurosis fugax (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Central serous choroidopathy (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Electroretinography (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Fluorescein angiography (Medical Encyclopedia)
• High blood pressure and eye disease (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Home vision tests (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Intravitreal injection (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Retinal artery occlusion (Medical Encyclopedia)
• Retinal vein occlusion (Medical Encyclopedia)

Cone-rod dystrophy is a group of related eye disorders that causes vision loss, which becomes more severe over time. These disorders affect the retina, which is the layer of light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. In people with cone-rod dystrophy, vision loss occurs as the light-sensing cells of the retina gradually deteriorate.The first signs and symptoms of cone-rod dystrophy, which often occur in childhood, are usually decreased sharpness of vision (visual acuity) and increased sensitivity to light (photophobia). These features are typically followed by impaired color vision (dyschromatopsia), blind spots (scotomas) in the center of the visual field, and partial side (peripheral) vision loss. Over time, affected individuals develop night blindness and a worsening of their peripheral vision, which can limit independent mobility. Decreasing visual acuity makes reading increasingly difficult and most affected individuals are legally blind by mid-adulthood. As the condition progresses, individuals may develop involuntary eye movements (nystagmus).There are more than 30 types of cone-rod dystrophy, which are distinguished by their genetic cause and their pattern of inheritance: autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, and X-linked. Additionally, cone-rod dystrophy can occur alone without any other signs and symptoms or it can occur as part of a syndrome that affects multiple parts of the body.