Embryological pigment epithelial dystrophies.

The embryological pigment epithelial dystrophies may be due, although rather rarely, to chemical factors, such as antibiotics and thalidomide, to ionizing radiation and to infectious factors, syphilis or viral infections, such as mumps, measles, varicella, or cytomegalovirus. The most frequent and the most typical dystrophy is, nevertheless, the rubella epitheliopathy with its widespread scattered black pigment deposits, found predominantly in the posterior pole, and its unaffected visual functions. The macular dystrophy associated with deaf-mutism is also often due to a maternal rubella infection.