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Introduction and Discovery of Retinitis Pigmentosa

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Retinitis Pigmentosa

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2560))

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the most common inherited retinal dystrophy. There are three main characteristics of RP: night blindness, retinal pigmentation, and visual field constriction. Among these three features, night blindness was the first to be discovered, which could be dated back to the ancient Egyptians at around 1500 BC. However, the night blindness described at that time was most likely associated with vitamin A deficiency rather than RP. Retinitis pigmentosa was first described in cadaver anatomic dissection before the invention of the ophthalmoscope. However, it was not linked to RP or night blindness. It was not until the invention of the ophthalmoscope that ophthalmologists could truly look into the eye and correlate the retinal pigmentation with clinical symptoms, such as night blindness and visual field constriction. In 1983, at a RP workshop that gathered together many experts, a consensus was reached regarding the terminology and guidelines for the diagnosis of RP. In this chapter, we will introduce the history and discovery of RP along with its characteristics.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Hung-Hsi Wang, Nelson Chen & Nan-Kai Wang

  2. School of Arts and Sciences, University of Maimi, Miami, FL, USA

    Hung-Hsi Wang

  3. Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    Nelson Chen

Authors
  1. Hung-Hsi Wang
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  2. Nelson Chen
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  3. Nan-Kai Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hung-Hsi Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Ophthalmology, Pathology & Cell Biology Graduate Programs in Nutritional & Metabolic Biology and Neurobiology & Behavior, Columbia Stem Cell Initiative, New York, NY, USA

    Stephen H. Tsang

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Peter M.J. Quinn

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© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

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Wang, HH., Chen, N., Wang, NK. (2023). Introduction and Discovery of Retinitis Pigmentosa. In: Tsang, S.H., Quinn, P.M. (eds) Retinitis Pigmentosa. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2560. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2651-1_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2651-1_1

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2650-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2651-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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