Cortical visual impairment in children

Abstract

Cortical visual impairment is a prevalent cause of visual loss in children. It encompasses a wide range of visual disabilities from no light reception to normal visual acuity with cognitive visual dysfunction.

Visual Abilities at 6 Months in Preterm Infants: Impact of Thyroid Hormone Deficiency and Neonatal Medical Morbidity

“…Although these deficits are usually attributed to the adverse circumstances surrounding the early birth in preterm children (5)(6)(7), infants born preterm without any complications of prematurity may also show some form of visual impairment (8). Given the rise in and survival of an increasing number of extremely preterm infants (9,10), additional factors concerning the relationship between prematurity and reduced visual functioning need to be examined.…”

A functional approach to cerebral visual impairments in very preterm/very-low-birth-weight children

“…Although the lack of visual service use might also reflect unmet needs, referrals to visual rehabilitation were not restricted by narrow acceptance criteria. Our functional approach to defining CVI included any oculomotor, visual sensory, and perceptive deficit arising from cerebral abnormalities, thereby extending the range of deficits in conventional definitions of CVI (3,5,6). Our approach incorporates recent insights indicating that also "sensory" functions of binocular vision such as stereopsis have their cerebral underpinnings (24).…”

“…CVI can manifest as visual impairment ranging from severe visual deficits to subtle visual dysfunctions that adversely impact on daily functioning (5). However, definitions of CVI vary between research groups and generally accepted diagnostic criteria are still lacking.…”

Eye disorders in newborn infants (excluding retinopathy of prematurity)

“…The most common cause of bilateral vision loss at birth in the developed world is cortical visual impairment (CVI) 48. CVI is caused by injury to the visual cortex or cerebral visual pathways, most commonly due to hypoxic–ischaemic injury 49. Clinically, newborns with CVI present with an absent or poor response to visual stimuli, often brisk pupillary reaction to light, normal ocular examination and neurological deficits corresponding to the area of injury.…”