虽然Von Graefe于1958年曾报导过兄弟三人均患该病的病例,但是遗传性视神经病的研究是由Theoder Leber′s于1871年发表文章以后开始的。尽管Leber′s病相当罕见,然而有些作者已经搜集到一些有非常广泛血统的病例,该病主要使年轻的男性受累,但是由女方遗传,这提示X—性连隐性遗传。没有症状的妇女媒介人不仅把该病传递给她们儿子中的一半或者比一半还要多,而且把媒介状态传递给她们的大多数女儿。此外10—20%的妇女携带者(在日本一些家庭中有30—40%)可以使她们自己表现出疾病。 Although Von Graefe reported cases of all three brothers in 1958, the study of hereditary optic neuropathy was initiated by Theoder Leber’s in 1871. Although Leber’s disease is relatively rare, some authors have collected some cases of very widespread ancestry that predominantly affects young males, but is inherited by the woman, suggesting the X-linked recessive inheritance. Asymptomatic women media people not only passed the disease to more than half or more than half of their sons, but also passed on their media status to most of their daughters. In addition, 10-20% of women carriers (30-40% of some families in Japan) can show themselves disease.