Retinitis Pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa is a chronic, progressive, hereditary disease of unknown aetiology. The symptoms of the disease follow a set pattern of progression and usually terminate with blindness. It starts the insidious path to blindness at various ages. The disease is diagnosed when the syndrome is completed. Retinitis pigmentosa has been investigated for over three-quarters of a century. Even with diligent research, no satisfactory treatment has been found. The essential feature of the pathology of retinitis pigmentosa is a progressive degeneration of the neuroepithelium. There are three major types of inheritance of the disease. They are (1) autosomal dominant, (2) autosomal recessive, and (3) sex-linkage. Data were obtained from questionnaires, personal interviews with afflicted persons, and literature reviewed. Discrepancies were found between the answers received through interviews and conclusions found in literature. No conclusions could be drawn from the pedigrees obtained from afflicted persons but it was found that they follow a pattern Similar to the three major types of inheritance.