Ocular Findings in Children with Cortical Visual Impairment

ABSTRACT

The epidemiology of children with cortical visual impairment(CVI)has been poorly defined till now, so the purposes of this study were to define the visual prognosis and prevalence of ophthalmologic problems in Korean children. The 20 children with follow-up of over 3 months were included out of 24 children diagnosed with CVI. The causes of CVI were periventricular leukomalacia in 7, congenital malformation in 4, and cerebral infarct or atrophy. Twelve of 19 children who had visual impairment at their initial visit showed visual improvement with follow-up. There were strabismus in 14, nystagmus in 6, and abnormal optic disc in 8 of the 20 children. All visualevoked response results were abnormal, but were not providing a more reliable prognosis in vision. The children who had abnormal electroencephalogram had poor visual prognosis as well as delayed developmental level. In conclusion, this study identified that children with CVI may be presented with a variety of ocular abnormalities, including strabismus, nystagmus, and abnormal optic disc. These findings suggest that a better understanding of the natural course will be required in children with CVI.