GENETIC-LINKAGE OF VITELLIFORM MACULAR DEGENERATION (BESTS DISEASE) TO CHROMOSOME-11Q13

Macular degeneration is the most common cause of legal blindness in older patients in developed countries. Best's vitelliform dystrophy is an early-onset, autosomal dominant form of macular degeneration characterized by an egg-yolk-like collection of lipofuscin beneath the pigment epithelium of the retinal macula. Fifty-seven members of a five-generation family affected with this disease were studied. A combination of ophthalmoscopy and electro-oculography was used for diagnosis; 29 patients were found to be affected and 16 unaffected. Linkage analysis mapped the disease-causing gene to chromosome 11 q13. Three markers in this region were found to be significantly linked (Z(max) > 3.0) to the disease. Multipoint analysis yielded a maximum Lod score of 9.3 in the interval between markers INT2 and D11S871.