Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy

What it is

A rare acquired retinal disorder characterised by sequential focal degeneration of photoreceptors, retinal pigment epithelium and choroid, with the majority of patients experiencing sudden onset photopsia and acute scotomas. Although patients typically retain decent visual acuity, blind spot enlargement and retinal pigment epithelial disturbances tend to develop over time. Individuals also often complain of distortion of central vision, photophobia and difficulty with night vision, with more advanced cases reporting loss of peripheral vision.

Key facts

Age of onset

Adolescent, Adult

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references