Albinism. Recent advances.

There have recently been several fundamental advances in our understanding of albinism, both in animals and in man. These advances have been in the division of oculocutaneous albinism into tyrosinase-negative and tyrosinase-positive forms, the demonstration of a widespread disturbance in the structure of melanosomes in X-linked ocular albinism, the description of the condition now known as autosomal recessive ocular albinism, and a peculair anatomical abnormality of the visual pathways which appears to be present in all forms of oculocutaneous and ocular albinism. Evidence has been presented which confirms that the retinogeniculate anomaly in human albinos is similar to that in animals, and it has recently been suggested that there may be two major patterns of geniculocortical projected in man, as there are in the Siamese cat.