Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Thirty-one full term infants with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) were studied with a battery of tests designed to evaluate visual function in infancy and with serial MRI. Their age ranged between 5 and 31 months. The aim of the study was to evaluate whether the degree of HIE or the site and size of lesions on MRI could predict visual outcome. Twenty of the 31 infants studied showed abnormal results on at least one of the visual tests used. While visual function was generally normal in grade I HIE and severely impaired in grade III, visual outcome was variable in grade II. MRI findings were better predictors of visual impairment than the degree of HIE. Normal scans tended to be associated with normal visual function, irrespective of the severity of HIE. All but one of the infants with diffuse hemispheric involvement also showed multiple visual abnormalities. The concomitant involvement of basal ganglia was always associated with more severe visual outcome. These results suggest that infants with generalised lesions secondary to global insults are at high risk of severe visual impairment even in presence of normal acuity and require early assessment of various aspects of visual function.

Original publication

DOI

10.1055/s-2007-973693

Type

Journal article

Journal

Neuropediatrics

Publication Date

06/1997

Volume

28

Pages

155 - 161

Keywords

Basal Ganglia, Brain Edema, Brain Ischemia, Cerebral Cortex, Child Development, Female, Humans, Hypoxia, Brain, Infant, Newborn, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Severity of Illness Index, Vision Disorders, Vision, Ocular