X-Linked Recessive Juvenile Retinoschisis (RS)

RS is passed from parent to child via a recessive gene on the X chromosome; this is the same way baldness is inherited. This means my son will not have the disease, but my daughter is a carrier, and any son she bears will have a 50% chance of receiving the recessive gene.

There are currently no approved surgical or medical means to repair the tissue damage caused by retinoschisis, although there is some promising experimental work being done on artificial retinas and retina transplants.

Much research is being targeted at understanding the genetics of the disease. A genetic sequence related to the disease has been identified; it is called XLRS1. The successful identification of XLRS1 has given doctors the ability to test male patients for the presence of the disease, and female patients for carrier status. See this article at Retina International for information about the cloning of XLRS1 and how to be tested.

The Kellogg Eye Center at U Michigan is conducting extensive research on the Genetics of Inherited Eye Disease, and they have some RS-specific info too.

RetNet is another site with good information about RS and other retinal disorders.

PubMed has an excellent collection of RS-related articles.

There is an email discussion group called RPLIST which covers Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and all other types of retina degeneration including RS.

I was diagnosd with RS when I was about ten years old. My vision acuity with glasses is 20/80 in my right eye and 20/200 in my left. With this level of vision, I am unable to drive and have difficulty reading without the aid of magnification. For most of my computer work, I use screen magnification software. Peter Verhoeven maintains www.magnifiers.org, a great site for information about the various screen magnification products available.