Ophthalmological, cognitive, electrophysiological and MRI assessment of visual processing in preterm children without major neuromotor impairment

Abstract

Many studies report chronic deficits in visual processing in children born preterm. We investigated whether functional abnormalities in visual processing exist in children born preterm but without major neuromotor impairment (i.e. cerebral palsy). Twelve such children (< 33 weeks gestation or birthweight < 1000 g) without major neuromotor impairment and 12 born full-term controls were assessed at 8-12 years of age by means of ophthalmological assessment (visual acuity, colour vision, stereopsis, stereoacuity, visual fields, ocular motility, motor fusion), cognitive tests of visual-motor, visual-perceptual and visual-spatial skills and pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (PR-VEPs). All participants also underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and neuromotor assessments. No significant differences were found between the groups on the ophthalmological, visual cognitive, neurological, neuromotor or MRI measures. The P100 component of the PR-VEP showed a significantly shorter latency in the preterm compared with the full-term participants. Whilst this P100 finding suggests that subtle abnormalities may exist at the neurophysiological level, we conclude that visual dysfunction is not systematically associated with preterm birth in the context of normal neurological status.

Multimodal recording of brain activity in term newborns during photic stimulation by near-infrared spectroscopy and electroencephalography

“…This is of special interest in preterm infants, as many of them develop visual cognitive impairment in later childhood. 1 This visual impairment is thought to result from injury to the posterior visual pathway in the context of periventricular white matter lesions, 2 even in the absence of major neuromotor impairment. 3 NIRS with the ability to detect hemodynamic responses (HR) and potential optical neuronal signals might offer an optimal instrumentation for assessing the visual cognitive development.…”

Les troubles cognitifs, comportementaux et d’apprentissage chez les enfants nés prématurément : une revue de littérature

“…Langage (Briscoe, Gathercole, & Marlow, 1998;Guarini et al, 2009;Jansson-Verkasalo et al, 2004;Le Normand & Cohen, 1999;Taylor, Hack et Klein, 1998;Valleur, Magny, Rigourd, & Kieffer, 2004;Wolke, Samara, Bracewell, Marlow, & Group, 2008) (Caravale, Tozzi, Albino, & Vicari, 2005;Dewey, Crawford, Creighton, & Sauve, 1999;Taylor, Klein, Minich et Hack, 2004;Taylor, Minich, Bangert, Filipek et Hack, 2000;Vicari, Caravale, Carlesimo, Casadei, & Allemand, 2004) (Aylward, 2002;Caravale, et al, 2005;Davis, Burns, Wilkerson, & Steichen, 2005;Dewey, et al, 1999;Foulder-Hughes & Cooke, 2003;Goyen, Lui, & Woods, 1998;Isaacs, Edmonds, Chong, Lucas, & Gadian, 2003;Jongmans et al, 1996;O'Reilly et al, 2010;Saigal, Stoskopf, Streiner et Burrows, 2001) (Aylward, 2002;Caravale, et al, 2005;Elgen, Lundervold, & Sommerfelt, 2004;Hack et al, 2009;Marlow, Hennessy, Bracewell, Wolke, & Group, 2007;Taylor et al 1998;) (Anderson, et al, 2004;Bayless & Stevenson, 2007;Mahone & Hoffman, 2007;Marlow, et al, 2007; ( Anderson & Doyle, 2008;Baron, Ahronovich, Erickson, Gidley Larson, & Litman, 2009;Bayless, et al, 2008;Botting, Powls, Cooke, & Marlow, 1997;…”

“…Ces fonctions sont responsables d'habiletés telles que la coordination papiercrayon, la motricité fine, l'intégration visuo-motrice, la coordination oeil-main et la vitesse motrice. Il est donc tout à fait cohérent que les enfants prématurés exhibent des difficultés académiques avec les calculs mathématiques, l'écriture (motricité et orthographe) et la lecture, étant donné l'implication des fonctions visuo-motrices et visuo-spatiales dans ces processus (Aylward, 2002;O'Reilly, et al, 2010). Selon l'étude de Goyen, Lui et Woods (1998), 11 à 20% des enfants prématurés présenteraient des déficits au niveau des habiletés visuo-perceptuelles et visuo-motrices, alors que cette incidence s'élève à 71% en ce qui concerne la motricité fine.…”

“…Selon l'étude de Goyen, Lui et Woods (1998), 11 à 20% des enfants prématurés présenteraient des déficits au niveau des habiletés visuo-perceptuelles et visuo-motrices, alors que cette incidence s'élève à 71% en ce qui concerne la motricité fine. Ceux-ci peuvent se manifester en dépit d'un QI dans la moyenne (Davis, et al, 2005), ainsi qu'en l'absence d'atteintes neuromotrices (O'Reilly, et al, 2010). Notons, par ailleurs, que plus d'un tiers de ces enfants se voient prescrire des verres correcteurs, en comparaison à seulement 10% chez les enfants nés à terme (Saigal, et al, 2001).…”

Visual motor integration and overall development of preterm and at term children at the beginning of schooling

“…Several studies on the influences of preterm birth in school-age children include measures for visual perception, visual motor integration, fine motor skills, and motor development [6][7][8][9][10][11] . However, there is no systematic investigation of the prevalence and nature of the visual motor integration dysfunction and its relation with dysfunction in the fine motor coordination skills, visual perceptions, and perinatal variables in preterm children who seem normal during school age 12 .…”