VISUAL OUTCOME IN CHILDREN WITH CONGENITAL HEMIPLEGIA - CORRELATION WITH MRI FINDINGS

Fourteen children with congenital hemiplegia were studied with a detai led assessment of various aspects of vision (linear acuity, stereopsis , visual fields) and MRI. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ef fect of a congenital lesion on visual function. The results showed a v ery high incidence (78%) of children who had abnormal results on at le ast one of the visual tests. Visual abnormalities were not correlated with the clinical severity of hemiplegia or with a specific pattern of lesion on MRI. Similarly no constant association could be found betwe en visual structures (optic radiations and primary visual cortex) and visual function. Finally, our results would suggest that all the child ren with congenital hemiplegia need to be investigated irrespective of the clinical severity or the the type or the extent of the lesion. Th is would help to identify children with minor visual abnormalities whi ch can affect everyday life performance.