Eye conditions Quiz: Ace Your Exams

A 4-year-old boy is brought to the ophthalmologist after his primary care doctor noted ocular malalignment. He was born at full term without complications. The patient has been growing well along with the 50th percentile for height and weight. Vitals are within normal limits. Physical examination reveals malalignment of the right eye. Examination with an ophthalmoscope reveals a white reflex in the right eye and a red reflex in the left eye. Dilated fundoscopic examination of the right eye is shown below. Which of the following best describes the underlying pathophysiology of this patient’s clinical condition?  


^{Reproduced from Wikimedia Commons}