Question

A 22-year-old male reports to his eye doctor that he lost the center portion of the vision in his right eye over a week's time and 2 weeks later, the same thing happened in his left eye. He has two older brothers who had the same thing happen to them at age 21 and 23, and one older sister who had the same eye problems starting at age 24.

If the patient has children, which one of the following patterns will occur?
(A) All of his children will have the disease.
(B) None of his children will have the disease.
(C) Only his sons will have the disease.
(D) Only his daughters will have the disease.
(E) All of his children will be carriers of the disease.

Answer 1

The pattern of vision loss described does not fit a straightforward inheritance model, and without information on the specific inheritance mechanism or genetic testing results, it is challenging to predict the pattern that will occur in the patient's children.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question appears to describe a pattern of vision loss consistent with an inherited condition. Given the history of similar symptoms in both male and female siblings, and considering that both sexes are affected, the pattern does not comply with traditional X-linked recessive inheritance, which would typically affect more males than females.

Since the question is about the inheritance pattern of the described eye condition for this patient's future children, without further information regarding the exact mode of inheritance, it is difficult to predict with absolute certainty. However, based on the information provided, it is also not consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance, as the condition would have likely presented itself in the parents.

If the condition were autosomal recessive, each child would have a chance of being affected based on both parents' carrier status. Without this information, it's challenging to determine the likelihood of offspring being carriers or having the disease. Hence, without genetic testing or more family history information, making a prediction would be speculative. This question might require an understanding of the specific inheritance mechanism of the eye condition, which is not detailed in the scenario provided.