Visual field function in school-aged children with spastic unilateral cerebral palsy related to different patterns of brain damage

Jacobson, L., Rydberg, A., Eliasson, A., Kits, A., & Flodmark, O. (2010, August). Visual field function in school-aged children with spastic unilateral cerebral palsy related to different patterns of brain damage. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 52(8), 184-187. Retrieved September 15, 2011, from Proquest.

This study sought to explore, in children with unilateral cerebral palsy, the relationship between visual field perception and the brain’s structure. Visual field function was determined in this study using 29 children; 15 of them were males and 14 were females. Their ages ranged from 7-14 years. The research used the confrontation technique and the Goldmann perimetry. GMFCS, or Gross Motor Function Classification System, was used to classify unilateral cerebral palsy. Levels 1-3 of the Manual Ability Classification system were also utilized. Cerebral imaging was used to determine the type and severity of the brain lesions of the participants. Eighteen within the study had a visual field function that was below normal. Six of the children had severely restricted visual fields. The lesions were white matter damage, malformation, and cortical lesions. A correlation was found between the pattern of brain damage in the children and their visual field capability. Of the 29 children, 5 of them had a normal field of vision even with the malformations that involving portions of the brain that play a part in the visual system. The results of this study showed that visual field function may be able to be preserved due to the plasticity of the underdeveloped brains of children with white matter damage. With higher numbers of lesions that existed in the brain there was a relation of a higher number of restricted visual fields.