- Leber's eye disease is generally passed down as an autosomal recessive disease, where each parent gives the child one abnormal gene; in this type of inheritance, a child has a 25 percent of inheriting Leber's.
- People with Leber's eye disease have very low vision at birth; while there may be not changes in the retina on exam, tests of the retina (ERGs) show little activity in the retinal cells.
- By the teen years, the retinas of people with Leber's show narrowed blood vessels and pigmentary changes; however, the vision remains stable.
- A common symptom in patients with Leber's is constantly pressing on their eyes with their hands; this is called the oculo-digital reflex.
- Nystagmus (side-to-side jerking of the eye), keratoconus (highly irregularly shaped corneas) and cataracts can be found in people with Leber's eye disease.
- Leber's eye disease can be associated with disorders such as epilepsy, developmental delays and other conditions.
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