The inheritance pattern of adult-onset vitelliform macular dystrophy is definitively autosomal dominant. Many affected people, however, have no history of the disorder in their family and only a small number of affected families have been reported. This is because the penetrance of the condition is incomplete; therefore, it is possible for an individual to have a copy of the mutant allele and not display the VMD phenotype. The ratio of males to females is approximately 1:1.
