Retinitis pigmentosa inversa with unilateral high myopia with fellow eye optic disc pitting

To report a possible rare association of bilateral retinitis pigmentosa inversa (RPI) with unilateral high myopia with fellow eye optic disc pitting.

A 55-year-old man with a history of reduced vision in the right eye since childhood presented with gradually decreasing vision in the left eye. On examination, a -23.00 diopter refractive error and diffuse chorioretinal atrophy consistent with pathologic myopia was found in the right eye. An optic disc pit with posterior pole pigmentary alterations thought to be consequent to a previous neurosensory detachment was found in the left eye. Though the retinal arteriolar attenuation seen in both eyes with an inconsistent history of night blindness since childhood pointed towards the possibility of a concurrently existing rod or rod-cone dystrophy, the posterior pole pigmentary alterations characteristic of RPI were clearly masked by the above pathologies.

Optical coherence tomography demonstrated prominent foveal atrophy and an optic disc pit in the left eye. Electroretinography (ERG) demonstrated moderately attenuated amplitudes with prolonged implicit times of rod and cone responses bilaterally. The patient was diagnosed with bilateral RPI and anisometropic amblyopia in the right eye.

This report documents a unique constellation of findings which include bilateral RPI and unilateral high myopia with an optic disc pit in the fellow eye. An ERG confirmation of a dystrophic etiology should be sought in suspicious cases, especially when findings are masked by the concurrent presence of other pathologies.