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Retinal Cone Dystrophy 3B

OMIM ID:

autosomal recessive

Retinal Cone Dystrophy 3B

Alternate Names

cone dystrophy with supernormal rod responses
cone dystrophy with night blindness
RCD3B
CDSRR

Defective Genes

KCNV2

Clinical Characteristics

Ocular Features

This is a degenerative disorder in which patients have a progressive deterioration of visual acuity and color vision.  Most patients have significant myopia.  Visual difficulties begin in early childhood with acuity of 20/100 or worse by the second decade of life.  Color vision deficits can be detected in the second decade but nyctalopia occurs later in young adults.  Photophobia is a prominent symptom.  The ERG shows reduced and delayed cone responses.  Rod responses to low intensity flashes are undetectable but increased stimulus intensity leads to an abrupt increase in amplitude, often exceeding the upper limits of normal.

The fundus appears normal in some patients but foveal or parafoveal atrophy, a macular bull’s eye, hyperfluorescence anomalies, and a generalized fine pigmentary retinopathy have been reported.  There may be some temporal pallor in the optic nerves.  Nystagmus and strabismus may be present.

Systemic Features

No systemic disease has been reported.

Genetics

Inheritance

This is an autosomal recessive disorder resulting from homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the KCNV2 gene (9p24.2).

Pedigree

Autosomal recessive

In order for autosomal recessive disorders to be expressed, offspring generally must inherit two mutations, one from each carrier parent.  Carriers with only one mutation, such as the parents, do not have clinical disease.  Note that carrier parents can expect that 1 in 4 children (25%) will inherit both mutations and have the disorder, 2 in 4 children (50%) will be carriers like their parents, while 1 in 4 children (25%) inherit neither mutation.

Image
Sample pedigree of autosomal recessive inheritance

In order for autosomal recessive disorders to be expressed, offspring generally must inherit two mutations, one from each carrier parent. Carriers with only one mutation, such as the parents, do not have clinical disease. Note that carrier parents can expect that 1 in 4 children (25%) will inherit both mutations and have the disorder, 2 in 4 children (50%) will be carriers like their parents, while 1 in 4 children (25%) inherit neither mutation.

Treatment & Management

No effective treatment is available for this dystrophy.  Low vision aids and tinted lenses may be helpful.

Publications

Displaying 1 - 2 of 2

Molecular characteristics of four Japanese cases with KCNV2 retinopathy: Report of novel disease-causing variants

PubMedID: 23885164

Phenotypic Characteristics Including In Vivo Cone Photoreceptor Mosaic inKCNV2-Related “Cone Dystrophy with Supernormal Rod Electroretinogram”

PubMedID: 23221069