Iq 1956 a woman came to my office with the single complaint of a slightly fainting vision. She had central macular depigmentations and visual acuity 0. D. = 0,4; 0. S. = 0,8 (V: 49 in pedigree chart, Figure 1). On a direct question the patient told me that one or two of her four sons had poor vision. Further investigations revealed several cases of cent r d tapetoretinal alterations in residents of one parish, wAr, in the Swedish province of Dalecarlia. A causal relationship between the cases observed was sought and is tentatively reported here.
MATERIAL AND METHODSTo secure patients for this study my original office patients were asked for information concerning their families. Additional cases were obtained through the files of the Ophthalmiatric Department of the Falu Hospital, where 10 cases had been observed by my predecessor. 59 cases were traced and observed by me at the ophthalmiatric outpatients department and followed up during half a year to four years. Ten of these patients were admitted for neurological and medical observation by me and my colleagues at the Medical Department.Relationship between patients with macular alterations was sought for by interviews and by means of objective genealogic methods, resorting to birth and parish registers.
RESULTSA total of 69 persons were observed to have central retinal alterations, 39 men and 30 women. In 63 instances, 36 men and 27 women, the patients belonged to six frequently intermarrying kindreds from parish >>AN, they are represented in Figure 1, where the Roman numerals refer to generations, the Arabic to individuals. In the following report patients are denoted accordingly.
663