Fluorescein angiogram of the retina of the right eye of a patient with pigmentary retinopathy, also known as retinitis pigmentosa. The retina is the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye. Retinitis pigmentosa is an inherited degenerative eye disease that leads to severe visual impairment caused by the degeneration of the rod photoreceptor cells in the retina. In areas where the rods are completely absent 'bone spicules' (dark areas along capillaries) of retinal pigment epithelium cell pigment form.