Inherited retinal detachment.

Abstract

Aside from gross congenital anomalies such as falciform folds and colobomata, the known hereditary causes of retinal detachment include myopic degeneration, 1 retinoschisis, 2,3 vitreous degeneration, 4 and peripheral retinal degeneration. 5 Vitreous and retinal degeneration are known to be associated with high myopia and to predispose to retinal detachment. 6 Edmund reported 5 families in whom retinal detachment occurred in high myopes. 1 His findings of 3 families with dominant transmission and 2 with recessive transmission agree with the known variable heredity of myopia itself. 6 Retinoschisis, as outlined by Levy, 2 is a sex-linked recessive disease with a predilection for inferior temporal quadrant of the globe. Abnormal vitreoretinal adhesions may be responsible for retinal tears and detachment. 7 Since these abnormalities are often bilateral and symmetrical, they are likely to be of hereditary origin. Familial occurrence of vitreous membranes is reported. 3 The high incidence of severe peripheral