Discovery of New Inherited Eye Disease

The discovery of a new inherited eye disease will hopefully? provide a deeper understanding of other common retinal diseases. The new eye disease which affects the macula was discovered by scientists at the University of Iowa. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="260"] Bleeding in macular portion of retina[/caption] Such a discovery is rare. Dr. Vinit Mahajan, the lead author reports that finding a new inherited eye disease affecting the macula is extremely uncommon. The article detailing the findings is in the November 9 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. The newly discovered retinal eye disease causes abnormal blood vessels to form in the macula. These malformed blood vessels are inclined to bleed and this leads to both swelling and scars that affect vision. These symptoms are generally connected with another condition known as wet macular degeneration. Researchers made this discovery when one person in a family came in for care for eye problems. If the doctors had just examined the one patient, macular degeneration would have most likely been the diagnosis. They suspected something was else was going on and they examined 20 extended family members with varying visual problems. The result was the discovery of the new eye disease. Researchers are hopeful that the discovery of this new macular eye disease will bring about a greater understanding of other eye diseases. Andrea Schumann Staff Writer