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Center for Retinitis Pigmentosa of the Veneto Region - Camposampiero Hospital (Azienda ULSS 6 Euganea), Padova, Italy

ITALY

The Center for Retinitis Pigmentosa of the Veneto Region is operative in the North-East of Italy. RP Center works inside the Ophthalmology Unit of the Civil Hospital of Camposampiero, which belongs to the healthcare provider Azienda ULSS 6 Euganea of Padova. Since 2004 this Center is established as clinical and low-vision rehabilitative service for patients suffering from retinal rare diseases by the Resolution no. 4095/2003 of the Veneto Region, in accordance with the Italian National Law 284/1997 “Regulations for the prevention of blindness and visual rehabilitation”. Starting from 2008, the Center for Retinitis Pigmentosa of the Veneto Region is also assisted by specialized university personnel as a result of a specific agreement for the institutional research on retinal rare diseases of the University of Ferrara.

The main mission of this Center is to provide for a comprehensive and personalized healthcare specifically addressed to the long-term taking care of patients with retinitis pigmentosa or other inherited retinal dystrophies, as well of their family members. In the last years, the patients with retinal rare disease firstly diagnosed or periodically examined at the Center for Retinitis Pigmentosa of the Veneto Region continuously increased, overcoming the 1200 cases in 2020, when about the 20% of patients have been managed by tele-monitoring procedures and the pediatric patients have reached the 16% of the total. Certification activities are regularly performed within the Inter-Regional Register for Rare Disease of the Veneto Region, an intranet HTTPS platform shared by several Italian Regions and powered by the Veneto Rare Diseases Coordinating Center, whereas genomic tests are carried out in collaboration with the Clinical Genetics Unit of the University Hospital of Padova.