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Objective We sought to construct and validate a patient-reported outcome measure for screening and monitoring vision-related anxiety in patients with inherited retinal degenerations. Design Item-response theory and graded response modeling to quantitatively validate questionnaire items generated from qualitative interviews and patient feedback. Methods Patients at the Kellogg Eye Center (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA) with a clinical diagnosis of an inherited retinal degeneration (n = 128) participated in an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 166 items, 26 of which pertained to concepts of “worry” and “anxiety.” The subset of vision-related anxiety questions was analyzed by a graded response model using the Cai Metropolis–Hastings Robbins–Monro algorithm in the R software mirt package. Item reduction was performed based on item fit, item information, and item discriminability. To assess test–retest variability, 25 participants completed the questionnaire a second time 4 to 16 days later. Results The final questionnaire consisted of 14 items divided into 2 unidimensional domains: rod function anxiety and cone function anxiety. The questionnaire exhibited convergent validity with the Patient Health Questionnaire for symptoms of depression and anxiety. This vision-related anxiety questionnaire has high marginal reliability (0.81 for rod-function anxiety, 0.83 for cone-function anxiety) and exhibits minimal test–retest variability (ρ = 0.81 [0.64-0.91] for rod-function anxiety and ρ = 0.83 [0.68-0.92] for cone-function anxiety). Conclusions The Michigan Vision-Related Anxiety Questionnaire is a psychometrically validated 14-item patient-reported outcome measure to be used as a psychosocial screening and monitoring tool for patients with inherited retinal degenerations. It can be used in therapeutic clinical trials for measuring the benefit of an investigational therapy on a patient's vision-related anxiety.

The Foundation Fighting Blindness is a 50‐year old 501c(3) non‐profit organization dedicated to supporting the development of treatments and cures for people affected by the inherited retinal diseases (IRD), a group of clinical diagnoses that include orphan diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, and Stargardt disease, among others. Over $760 M has been raised and invested in preclinical and clinical research and resources. Key resources include a multi‐national clinical consortium, an international patient registry with over 15,700 members that is expanding rapidly, and an open access genetic testing program that provides no cost comprehensive genetic testing to people clinically diagnosed with an IRD living in the United States. These programs are described with particular focus on the challenges and outcomes of establishing the registry and genetic testing program.

Purpose To create a psychometrically validated patient-reported outcome measure for inherited retinal degenerations. Design Qualitative and quantitative patient-reported outcome (PROs) questionnaire development using item response theory validation. Methods One hundred twenty-eight patients with a diagnosis of an inherited retinal degeneration at the Kellogg Eye Center (University of Michigan) were recruited and administered a 166-item questionnaire comprising 7 expert-defined domains. The questionnaire was re-administered 4-16 days later to a subset of 25 participants to assess test-retest variability. Graded response models were fit by Cai's Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro algorithm using the R (version 3.6.3) package mirt. Model data were fit to assess questionnaire dimensionality, to estimate item information, and to score participants. Poorly functioning items were removed, and the model was refit to create the final questionnaire. Results The psychometrically validated PROs measure was reduced to a 59-item questionnaire measuring 7 unidimesnional domains: central vision, color vision, contrast sensitivity, scotopic function, photopic peripheral vision, mesopic peripheral vision, and photosensitivity. A total of 39 items were removed because of poor factor loading, low item information, poor person-ability differentiation, or high item-level interdependence. This novel questionnaire produces a reliable domain score for person ability that does not show significant test-retest variability across repeated administration. Conclusions The final PRO questionnaire, known as the Michigan Retinal Degeneration Questionnaire, is psychometrically validated and available for use in the evaluation of patients with inherited retinal degenerations.

OBJECTIVE: To provide a comprehensive review of the ocular manifestations, outcomes, and genetic findings in patients with Coats-like retinitis pigmentosa (RP). DESIGN: Multi-center, retrospective, non-consecutive case series. SUBJECTS: Patients with a diagnosis of RP presenting with Coats-like exudative vitreoretinopathy between January 1, 2008 and October 1, 2019. METHODS: Evaluation of ocular findings at RP diagnosis and at time of presentation of Coats-like exudative vitreoretinopathy, pedigree analysis, genetic testing, retinal imaging, and anatomic outcomes after treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Visual acuity, ophthalmoscopy, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, and identification of genetic mutations. RESULTS: 9 patients diagnosed with RP and presenting with Coats-like exudative vitreoretinopathy were included. Median age at time of RP diagnosis was 8 years (range, 1 – 22 years), and median age at presentation of Coats-like exudative vitreoretinopathy was 18 years (range 1 – 41 years). 7 patients were female, and 2 were male. The genetic cause of disease was identified in 6 patients. 3 patients presented with Coats-like fundus findings at the time of RP diagnosis. Exudative retinal detachment (ERD) localized to the infratemporal periphery was present in all cases, with bilateral disease observed in 7 patients. In all treated patients, focal laser photocoagulation (LP) was used to treat leaking telangiectasias and to limit further ERD expansion. Cystoid macular edema refractory to carbonic anhydrase inhibitor therapy, and ultimately amenable to treatment with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injection was observed in 4 patients. CONCLUSION: Coats-like vitreoretinopathy is present in up to 5% of all RP patients. The term “Coats-like RP” is colloquially used to describe this disease state which can present at the time of RP diagnosis, or more commonly develops late during the clinical course of patients with longstanding RP. Coats-like RP is distinct from Coats disease in that exudative pathology occurs exclusively in the setting of a coexisting RP diagnosis, is restricted to the infratemporal retina, can affect both eyes, and does not demonstrate a male sex bias. Given the risk of added vision loss posed by exudative vitreoretinopathy in patients with RP, a heightened awareness of this condition is critical in facilitating timely intervention.

Few reports on surgical outcomes after retinal detachment in Stickler syndrome exist. Also, infantile-onset glaucoma associated with Stickler syndrome has been rarely reported and no reports exist that examine outcomes after glaucoma surgery. This study describes the clinical and genetic associations and the long-term outcomes of retinal detachment repair or glaucoma surgery in patients with Stickler syndrome.Retrospective, single-center, case series of patients with Stickler syndrome. Demographics, clinical features, genetic mutations, and long-term surgical outcomes of eyes that experienced retinal detachment or diagnosed with infantile-onset glaucoma were assessed.Fifteen patients were identified with a mean age of 13 years at presentation and followed for a mean of 6 years. Two-thirds were male. Genetic analysis was performed as part of routine examination in nine patients from eight families. All were identified as having variants in COL2A1, three of which were novel. Six eyes of six patients experienced retinal detachment. Fifty percent of eyes without prophylactic laser treatment experienced retinal detachment, whereas only 5% of eyes that underwent prophylactic therapy detached. Despite surgical intervention for retinal detachment, five eyes became phthisical. Five eyes of three patients were diagnosed with infantile-onset glaucoma. All five eyes required multiple glaucoma surgeries, and three eyes became phthisical.This study illustrates the surgical challenges encountered in patients with Stickler syndrome. Additionally, infantile-onset glaucoma may be more prevalent than previously reported and presents a challenge in terms of management. A multidisciplinary approach is recommended to provide optimal care to these patients.

Background Patients with retinal diseases frequently complain of poor visual function even when visual acuity is relatively unaffected. This clinical finding has been attributed to deficits in contrast sensitivity (CS). The purpose of our study was to evaluate the CS in patients with clinical and genetic diagnosis of inherited retinal degeneration (IRD) and relatively preserved visual acuity. Methods Seventeen patients (30 eyes) with IRD and visual acuity of 20/40 or better, and 18 controls (18 eyes) without any ocular condition underwent slit lamp examination, visual acuity testing via standard Snellen chart testing, CS testing via the Quick Contrast Sensitivity Function (QCSF), and Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT). CS were measured at 1.0, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0, and 18.0 cycles per degree (cpd). T tests with general estimated equations were used to compare CS between groups. Wald chi square followed by pairwise comparisons was used to compare CS between multiple groups. Results We included 12 patients with rod-cone dystrophy (RCD), 3 patients with Stargardt disease (STGD) and 2 patients with Best disease. Patients with IRD had significantly worse CS than controls (p

To document the progression of disease in male and female members of a previously described family with X-linked dominant retinitis pigmentosa (RP) caused by a de novo insertion after nucleotide 173 in exon ORF15 of RPGR.The clinical records of 19 members of family UTAD054 were reviewed. Their evaluations consisted of confirmation of family history, standardised electroretinograms (ERGs), Goldmann visual fields, and periodic ophthalmological examinations over a 23-year period.Male members of family UTAD054 had non-recordable to barely recordable ERGs from early childhood. The males showed contracted central fields and developed more severe retinopathy than the females. The female members showed a disease onset delayed to teenage years, recordable but diminishing photopic and scotopic ERG amplitudes in a cone-rod pattern, progressive loss and often asymmetric visual fields, and diffuse atrophic retinopathy with fewer pigment deposits compared with males.This insertion mutation in the RPGR exon ORF15 is associated with a RP phenotype that severely affects males early and females by 30 years of age, and is highly penetrant in female members. Families with dominant-acting RPGR mutations may be mistaken to have an autosomal mode of inheritance resulting in an incorrect prediction of recurrence risk and prognosis. Broader recognition of X-linked RP forms with dominant inheritance is necessary to facilitate appropriate counselling of these patients.