GRATING ACUITY AND VISUAL-FIELD DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WITH INTRAVENTRICULAR HEMORRHAGE

Visual development was studied in 171 preterm children who had intrave ntricular hemorrhage (IVH) and in 73 healthy preterm (HPT) children wh o did not develop IVH, Binocular grating acuity was assessed at age 1 month; monocular grating acuity and binocular visual-field extent were assessed at 4, 8, 12, 17, 24, 30, 36, and 48 months; and monocular H, O, T, V letter recognition acuity was tested at 36 and 48 months. A s ignificantly greater proportion of IVH subjects than HPT subjects had ocular abnormalities, IVH subjects had significantly poorer grating ac uity than HPT subjects at 1, 4, 8, 36, and 48 months, poorer recogniti on acuity than HPT subjects at 36 and 48 months, and smaller average h eld extent than HPT subjects at 4, 12, and 17 months, Acuity deficits were not related to grade of IVH or to the presence of periventricular leukomalacia, but may have been associated with the presence of ocula r abnormalities or cerebral palsy in some IVH subjects.