Heathcote J G, Schoales B A, Willis N R
Department of Ophthalmology, Victoria Hospital, London, ON.
Can J Ophthalmol. 1991 Jun;26(4):229-37.
Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) (Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome) is an X-linked dominant condition usually fatal in males. Shortly after birth affected girls present with a rash followed by pigmentary changes. Abnormalities of the central nervous system and dentition are often present, and ophthalmic problems develop in approximately one-third of patients. The authors present the pathological findings in the skin and eye in a young woman who required enucleation as a result of long-standing retinal detachment and closed-angle glaucoma. A review of published ocular pathology reports indicates that retinal detachment and a fibrovascular retrolental membrane are the commonest intraocular abnormalities in IP. Changes in the retinal pigment epithelium are also prominent, although whether these are primary or secondary remains to be established.