Visual acuity in children with hydrocephalus

Abstract

Several studies have described impairment of visual function in children with hydrocephalus. Decreased visual acuity in hydrocephalic children can be due to either ophthalmological defects or defective function of the cerebral part of the visual pathways. In the latter case, the term cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is used. The aims of the present study were (1) to assess the prevalence of decreased visual acuity in children with hydrocephalus, (2) to determine the contribution of CVI to the prevalence of decreased visual acuity in these children, (3) to determine the relation between ventricular dilatation and decreased visual acuity, and (4) to seek a correlation between the number of shunt dysfunctions experienced and visual impairment. The study was carried out in a group of 72 children with hydrocephalus. Binocular visual acuity was assessed using Teller Acuity Cards and found to be below the 10th centile of normal in 37 of the 72 children (51%). Ophthalmological data, available for 33 of these children, could explain low visual acuity in only one child; CVI was present in 32 children. A correlation could be demonstrated between the number of shunt dysfunctions experienced and decreased visual acuity. No correlation was found between ventricular dilatation and decreased visual acuity.