Visual Dysfunction In Children With Cerebral Palsy

Objective To analyze the characteristics of visual dysfunction in children with cerebral palsy by exploring the assessment methods, and study the relation with their gross motor functions.Methods One hundred and sixty-three patients (age 4-108months, mean age 29.05±20.51months) at QingDao Rehabilitation Center for Disabled Children in 2006-2009 were inrolled into this study, including 117 boys and 46 girls. Patients were retrospectively reviewed for perinatal risk factors, physical examination, development assessment and et al. Ophthalmology doctors examined the visual parameters (refraction, visual acuity, eye position and movement, funduscopy). The data was analysed by SPSS11.5.Results In these patients, there were 70 cases with diplegia,20 cases with quadriplegia,14 cases with hemiplegia,22 cases with athetosssis,7 cases with ataxia and 30 cases with mixed type. Sixty-one patients had visual dysfunctions, the occurrence rate was 37.4%. The visual dysfunctions in these patients included: refractive errors in 39 patients(23.9%), strabismus in 50 patients(30.7%), abnormal eye movement in 26 patients(15.9%), abnormal fundoscopic fingdings in 13 patients(7.9%). Thirty-seven patients were examined by visual acuity,19 patients (51.4%) had low visual acuity. Patients had periventicular leukomalacia(PVL) or lesion in occipital lobe on MRI had the high frequency of visual dysfunction. Preterm and low birth weight were risk factors of visual dysfunction.Conclusions Visual dtsfuntion is a common complication in cerebral palsy. Early Ophthalmology assessment and treatment are important for children with cerebral palsy.