Relation between visual perceptual impairment and neonatal ultrasound diagnosis of haemorrhagic‐ischaemic brain lesions in 5‐year‐old children

Abstract

Visual‐perceptual abilities were assessed in 5‐year‐old children with the following neonatal neurological conditions: born preterm with normal ultrasound scan (NL, n=17); born preterm with ultrasound diagnosis of intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH, n=17); born preterm with ultrasound diagnosis of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL, n=12); born term with hypoxic‐ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE, n=11). Visual‐perceptual ability was evaluated with the L94: eight visual‐perceptual tasks designed to evaluate different aspects of visual perception at the preschool level in children with multiple disabilities. Impairment was established in comparison to the performance age obtained on non‐verbal intelligence subtests, instead of chronological age. Frequency of L94 impairment was highest in children with PVL, while children with IVH did not differ from the NL control group. Impairment rates were increased also in children with transient periventricular echodensities, and in children with HIE. Impairments were only moderately related to the delay of visual acuity maturation in infancy.

Risk of ultrasound-detected neonatal brain abnormalities in intrauterine growth-restricted fetuses born between 28 and 34 weeks' gestation: relationship with gestational age at birth and fetal Doppler parameters

“…This study confirms previous results, signifying the value of fetal Doppler parameters in predicting the risk of neurological morbidity. The findings demonstrate that a combination of MCA and AoI had an additive effect in predicting CUA, which is considered clinically as an important contributor to the risk of neurodevelopmental delay in cognitive function and attention capacity and in visual impairment. Thus, the risk of CUA increased from 14% when both parameters were normal to 67% when both were abnormal.…”

“…In order to address this question, this study was designed to include only fetuses born between 28 and 34 weeks' gestation. We examined the value of gestational age at birth and fetal Doppler parameters in predicting neonatal CUA, which is considered a sentinel sign for later neurological disability. Our study provides evidence that fetal Doppler parameters are a stronger predictor of CUA than is gestational age at birth in early‐onset IUGR neonates delivered between 28 and 34 weeks' gestation.…”

“…In addition to the known risks of prematurity, chronic hypoxia also contributes to the risk of ultrasound‐detected cranial abnormalities (CUA) such as intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). CUA have a strong association with later neurodevelopmental and visual impairments and its prediction could improve the management of early‐onset IUGR. From a clinical point of view, this information could be relevant particularly for fetuses delivered after 28 weeks' gestation when mortality is normally low, and the predicted risk of neonatal morbidity should constitute the main reason for delivery.…”

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.…”

Vision function in children 10 years after grade 3 or 4 intraventricular haemorrhage with ventricular dilation: A masked prospective study

“…Confrontation field testing is less accurate than formal perimetry and we may have missed some visual field defects as these have been reported in children after IVHVD 23 . We did not include (for pragmatic reasons) all possible tests of visuoperceptual or visuocognitive functions, including some such as visual attention 24 or object recognition that have been reported to show impairments affecting children who experienced IVHVD or other problems associated with preterm birth 3,25–27 . Therefore we are likely to have underestimated the number of visual impairments present in this cohort.…”