“Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a rare type of inherited eye disorder that causes severe vision loss at birth. It is the most common cause of inherited blindness in childhood, and is found in two to three out of every 100,000 babies. The retina has two main types of cells: cones and rods. Cone and rod cells are called photoreceptors because they detect and respond to light stimuli. LCA affects both the peripheral rod cells, which allow you to see at night, and the central cone cells, responsible for fine detail and color vision.

LCA is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, meaning that both parents must carry a defective gene for the condition in order to pass it on to their children. Each of their children has a 25 percent chance of inheriting the two LCA genes (one from each parent) needed to cause the disorder.”

University of California San Francisco UCSF