Full-field electroretinography and marked variability in clinical phenotype of Alstrom syndrome

Objectives: To characterize the clinical phenotype and to study the course of disease in patients with Alstrom syndrome, with an emphasis on retinal function assessed with full-field electroretinography (ERG). Methods: Three age- and sex-matched patients with Alstrom syndrome were selected from our retinitis pigmentosa register for repeated ophthalmologic examinations that included tests for color vision and visual fields using Goldmann perimetry and for repeated assessment of full-field ERGS. Results: Electroretinography demonstrated cone-rod degeneration in all 3 patients. A concomitant impairment of color vision and visual fields was also observed as well as marked variation in retinal function and in disease severity. Conclusions: Full-field ERGS confirmed that Alstrom syndrome is associated with a cone-rod type of retinal degeneration. In this study, we have shown a striking variability in retinal function and disease onset and severity, which has, to our knowledge, not been described previously in Alstrom syndrome.