Biomaterial Database

Cortical visual impairment in children. 2006

Jane C Edmond, and Rod Foroozan

Cullen Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. jedmond@bcm.tmc.edu

OBJECTIVE Cortical visual impairment is rapidly becoming a leading cause of visual loss in children in developed countries predominately because of the improved survival rates of premature infants over the past decade. RESULTS Most cases of cortical visual impairment arise from hypoxic ischemic injury to watershed areas of the brain. In the preterm infant the watershed areas are in the subcortex around the ventricles, while in the term infant the watershed areas are between the major arteries with injury to the subcortex and cortex. Therefore, preterm and term injury will manifest different ocular and visual system abnormalities as a result of this damage. Cognitive visual dysfunction, a type of cortical visual impairment, may occur in cases of damage to the peristriate cortex (association areas of the brain). The anterior visual pathways may also be damaged in a retrograde, transsynaptic fashion in cases of cortical visual impairment. CONCLUSIONS Cortical visual impairment is a prevalent cause of visual loss in children. It encompasses a wide range of visual disabilities from no light reception to normal visual acuity with cognitive visual dysfunction.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011379	Prognosis	A prediction of the probable outcome of a disease based on a individual's condition and the usual course of the disease as seen in similar situations.	Prognostic Factor,Prognostic Factors,Factor, Prognostic,Factors, Prognostic,Prognoses
D002534	Hypoxia, Brain	A reduction in brain oxygen supply due to ANOXEMIA (a reduced amount of oxygen being carried in the blood by HEMOGLOBIN), or to a restriction of the blood supply to the brain, or both. Severe hypoxia is referred to as anoxia and is a relatively common cause of injury to the central nervous system. Prolonged brain anoxia may lead to BRAIN DEATH or a PERSISTENT VEGETATIVE STATE. Histologically, this condition is characterized by neuronal loss which is most prominent in the HIPPOCAMPUS; GLOBUS PALLIDUS; CEREBELLUM; and inferior olives.	Anoxia, Brain,Anoxic Encephalopathy,Brain Hypoxia,Cerebral Anoxia,Encephalopathy, Hypoxic,Hypoxic Encephalopathy,Anoxia, Cerebral,Anoxic Brain Damage,Brain Anoxia,Cerebral Hypoxia,Hypoxia, Cerebral,Hypoxic Brain Damage,Anoxic Encephalopathies,Brain Damage, Anoxic,Brain Damage, Hypoxic,Damage, Anoxic Brain,Damage, Hypoxic Brain,Encephalopathies, Anoxic,Encephalopathies, Hypoxic,Encephalopathy, Anoxic,Hypoxic Encephalopathies
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014792	Visual Acuity	Clarity or sharpness of OCULAR VISION or the ability of the eye to see fine details. Visual acuity depends on the functions of RETINA, neuronal transmission, and the interpretative ability of the brain. Normal visual acuity is expressed as 20/20 indicating that one can see at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. Visual acuity can also be influenced by brightness, color, and contrast.	Acuities, Visual,Acuity, Visual,Visual Acuities
D014793	Visual Cortex	Area of the OCCIPITAL LOBE concerned with the processing of visual information relayed via VISUAL PATHWAYS.	Area V2,Area V3,Area V4,Area V5,Associative Visual Cortex,Brodmann Area 18,Brodmann Area 19,Brodmann's Area 18,Brodmann's Area 19,Cortical Area V2,Cortical Area V3,Cortical Area V4,Cortical Area V5,Secondary Visual Cortex,Visual Cortex Secondary,Visual Cortex V2,Visual Cortex V3,Visual Cortex V3, V4, V5,Visual Cortex V4,Visual Cortex V5,Visual Cortex, Associative,Visual Motion Area,Extrastriate Cortex,Area 18, Brodmann,Area 18, Brodmann's,Area 19, Brodmann,Area 19, Brodmann's,Area V2, Cortical,Area V3, Cortical,Area V4, Cortical,Area V5, Cortical,Area, Visual Motion,Associative Visual Cortices,Brodmanns Area 18,Brodmanns Area 19,Cortex Secondary, Visual,Cortex V2, Visual,Cortex V3, Visual,Cortex, Associative Visual,Cortex, Extrastriate,Cortex, Secondary Visual,Cortex, Visual,Cortical Area V3s,Extrastriate Cortices,Secondary Visual Cortices,V3, Cortical Area,V3, Visual Cortex,V4, Area,V4, Cortical Area,V5, Area,V5, Cortical Area,V5, Visual Cortex,Visual Cortex Secondaries,Visual Cortex, Secondary,Visual Motion Areas
D019575	Blindness, Cortical	Total loss of vision in all or part of the visual field due to bilateral OCCIPITAL LOBE (i.e., VISUAL CORTEX) damage or dysfunction. Anton syndrome is characterized by the psychic denial of true, organic cortical blindness. (Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p460)	Anton Syndrome,Psychic Denial of Blindness,Anton's Syndrome,Anton-Babinski Syndrome,Blindness, Cortical, Post-Ictal,Blindness, Cortical, Transient,Reversible Cortical Blindness,Transient Anton's Syndrome,Anton Babinski Syndrome,Anton's Syndrome, Transient,Antons Syndrome,Blindness, Reversible Cortical,Blindnesses, Reversible Cortical,Cortical Blindness,Cortical Blindness, Reversible,Cortical Blindnesses, Reversible,Reversible Cortical Blindnesses,Syndrome, Anton,Syndrome, Anton's,Syndrome, Anton-Babinski,Syndrome, Transient Anton's,Transient Anton Syndrome,Transient Antons Syndrome
D019987	Visually Impaired Persons	Persons with loss of vision such that there is an impact on activities of daily living.	Blind Persons,Persons with Visual Impairments,Visually Disabled Persons,Blind Person,Disabled Person, Visually,Disabled Persons, Visually,Impaired Person, Visually,Impaired Persons, Visually,Person, Blind,Person, Visually Disabled,Person, Visually Impaired,Persons, Blind,Persons, Visually Disabled,Persons, Visually Impaired,Visually Disabled Person,Visually Impaired Person