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Introduction: In adults, evaluation of fundus autofluorescence (AF) plays an important role in the differential diagnosis of retinal diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of recording AF in children and teenagers and to define typical AF findings of various hereditary retinal diseases during childhood., Methods: Fifty patients aged 2 to 16 years with hereditary retinal diseases were analysed using the HRA (Heidelberg Retina Angiograph). To enhance the AF signal, a mean of up to 16 single images was calculated. Twenty healthy children (aged 4-16 years) served as controls., Results: In many children as young as 5 years of age and even in one 2-year-old child good AF images could be obtained. To achieve high quality images, larger image series (about 50 single images) were taken and appropriate single images were chosen manually to calculate the mean. Characteristically, Stargardt disease shows a central oval area of reduced AF, often surrounded by more irregular AF. In patients with Best disease, a central round structure with regular or irregular intense AF is visualised. Some patients with X-linked retinoschisis show central radial structures. In many patients with rod-cone dystrophies, a central oval ring-shaped area of increased AF is present. In early-onset severe retinal dystrophy (EOSRD) with RPE65 mutations AF is completely absent, whereas in other forms of Leber congenital amaurosis, AF is normal., Discussion: Fundus autofluorescence may visualise disease-specific distributions of lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium, often not (yet) visible on ophthalmoscopy. AF images can be used in children to differentiate hereditary retinal diseases and to facilitate follow-up controls. In many cases, four single images are sufficient to analyse the AF pattern.

Purpose: To quantify retinal function longitudinally and cross-sectionally in patients with autosomal-recessive early-onset severe retinal dystrophy (EOSRD) associated with RPE65 mutations., Subjects and Methods: The ocular phenotype was characterized in four children from three families up to the second decade of life, and in three siblings from one family aged 43-54 years carrying compound heterozygous or homozygous mutations in RPE65. Standard clinical examination included colour vision testing, fundus photography and Goldmann visual fields (GVF). Full-field ERGs (in all) and multifocal ERGs (in two patients) were also recorded. Visual performance and fundus appearance were compared to literature data., Results: In childhood, visual acuity (VA) ranged from 0.1 to 0.3, and GVF for target V4 was well preserved. VA and GVF were measurable in only one of the three adult siblings. Nystagmus was present in two of four children and two of three adults. Photophobia was absent in childhood and developed in adulthood. Funduscopic changes were discrete during the first decade of life in three of four children; one patient had clear macular changes already at age 5 years. All three adult siblings had distinct retinal changes including the macula. Bone spicules were not a feature. Residual colour vision was present in all patients with measurable VA. Rod ERGs were absent at any age; cone ERGs were detectable in early childhood. To date, VA data have been reported in 51 patients, visual fields in 29 patients, and a detailed fundus description in 34 patients. For all three parameters, data were comparable to the results in our patient cohort., Conclusion: In childhood, patients with RPE65 mutations have better visual functions than typically seen in Leber congenital amaurosis. The phenotype shows a common progressive pattern with intrafamilial and interfamilial variation. The data suggest a preserved retinal morphology at young ages, arguing for vision-restoring gene therapy trials in childhood.