A review of the clinical and genetic aspects of aniridia

Abstract

Aniridia classically presents with a bilateral congenital absence or malformation of the irides, foveal hypoplasia, and nystagmus, and patients tend to develop visually significant pre-senile cataracts and keratopathy. Additionally, they are at high risk for developing glaucoma. Classic aniridia can be genetically defined as the presence of a PAX6 gene deletion or loss-of-function mutation that results in haploinsufficiency. Variants of aniridia, which include a condition previously referred to as autosomal dominant keratitis, are likely due to PAX6 mutations that lead to partial loss of PAX6 function. Aniridia-associated keratopathy (AAK) is a progressive and potentially debilitating problem affecting aniridic patients. The current treatments for AAK are to replace the limbal stem cells through keratolimbal allograft (KLAL) with or without subsequent keratoplasty for visual rehabilitation, or to implant a Boston type 1 keratoprosthesis. Future therapies for AAK may be aimed at the genetic modification of corneal limbal stem cells.