amaurosis

Blindness, especially that occurring without apparent change in the eye itself, as from a brain lesion. [G. amauros, dark, obscure, + -osis, condition]

- a. congenita of Leber [MIM*204000 & MIM*204100] a disorder of cone-rod abiotrophy causing blindness or severely reduced vision at birth; autosomal recessive inheritance with at least 3 different loci. Type I is caused by mutation in the gene for retinal guanylate cyclase (GUC2D) on chromosome 17p, type II by mutation in the gene for retinal pigment epithelium-specific 65-kD protein (RPE65) on 1p, and type III by mutation in the gene for photoreceptor-specific homeobox gene CRX on 19q.

- a. fugax a transient blindness that may result from a transient ischemia due to carotid artery insufficiency, retinal artery embolus, or to centrifugal force (visual blackout in flight).

- pressure a. loss of vision occurring a few seconds after intraocular pressure exceeds systolic pressure of retinal arteries.

- toxic a. blindness due to optic neuritis caused by methyl alcohol, lead, arsenic, quinine, or other poisons.

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am·au·ro·sis .am-ȯ-'rō-səs n, pl -ro·ses -.sēz partial or complete loss of sight occurring esp. without an externally perceptible change in the eye

am·au·rot·ic -'rät-ik adj

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n.

partial or complete blindness. For example, amaurosis fugax is a condition in which loss of vision is transient. See also Leber's congenital amaurosis.

• amaurotic adj.

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am·au·ro·sis (am″aw-roґsis) [L., from Gr. amaurōsis darkening] 1. blindness. 2. in a more limited sense, loss of vision in which there is no apparent lesion of the eye, such as from disease of the optic nerve, spine, or brain. Cf. amblyopia. amaurotic adj