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Visual Dysfunction (visual + dysfunction)
Selected AbstractsColor vision and macular recovery time in epileptic adolescents treated with valproate and carbamazepineEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2006A. Verrotti Visual dysfunction has been reported in patients diagnosed with epilepsy. Some of these visual disturbances may be attributable to either the disease process, or the anticonvulsant therapy prescribed to control the seizures. The aims of our study were to evaluate whether color vision and macular function are impaired in epileptic adolescents, to study if the monotherapy with valproic acid (VPA) and carbamazepine (CBZ) can affect color vision and macular function and to determine the possible relationship between color vision, retinal function and antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) dosage and their serum concentrations. We examined 45 (16 male and 29 female, mean age ± SD, 15.71 ± 2.01 years) Caucasian epileptic patients suffering from various types of cryptogenic epilepsy before the beginning of therapy and after 1 year of VPA or CBZ monotherapy and 40 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. Color vision was assessed by Farnsworth Munsell (FM) 100-hue test and total error score (TES) was evaluated. This test consists of colored caps: the testee has to arrange the caps according to their colors macular function was assessed by nyctometry evaluating initial recovery time (IRT) and summation method (SM). This test evaluates visual acuity after a period of intense illumination of macula. Analysis of variance was used to evaluate the difference between controls and patients; moreover, Pearson's correlation test have been performed. Before the beginning of therapy, there were no differences in color vision and macular function between controls and epileptic patients. After 1 year, the patients, treated with VPA or CBZ, showed a deficit in FM 100-hue test. At nyctometry, all patients showed no significant variation of macular function between baseline evaluation and second evaluation at end of the follow-up. Our study demonstrates that, in our group of epileptic patients, epilepsy per se does not affect color vision and retinal function. In contrast, after 1 years of therapy with VPA and CBZ these patients showed a deficit in FM 100-hue test although nyctometry evaluation continued to be normal allowing to exclude an impairment in macular function. Further investigations are required to determine the pathophysiological alteration(s) that are at the basis of color perception defects. [source] Visual dysfunction and methotrexateACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 5 2004Björn Johansson No abstract is available for this article. [source] Vision in children with hydrocephalusDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 10 2006Susann Andersson MD Hydrocephalus in children has many aetiologies, and can cause multiple ophthalmic and visual disorders. This study sets out to detect and quantify visual and visuoperceptual dysfunction in children who have received surgical treatment for hydrocephalus with and without myelomeningocele, and to relate the results to the associated diagnoses and results from a comparison group. Seventy-five school-aged children (41 males, 34 females) with surgically-treated hydrocephalus and 140 comparison children (76 males, 64 females) matched for age and sex underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic examination. Median age at examination was 9 years and 4 months (range 7y 4mo- 12y 10mo). Visual function deficits were identified in 83% (62/75) of the children with hydrocephalus. Visual impairment (binocular visual acuity <0.3) was found in 15% (11/73; comparison group 0%) but in none with myelomeningocele. Strabismus was found in 69% (51/74; comparison group 4% [5/140], p<0.001), and refractive errors were found in 67% (47/70; comparison group 20% [28/140], p<0.001). Cognitive visual dysfunction was identified in 59% (38/64; comparison group 3% [4/140], p<0.001). These disorders were identified in various combinations and comprised impaired ability to plan movement through depth (e.g. going down a stair), impaired simultaneous perception, impaired perception of movement, impaired orientation, and (least frequently) impaired recognition. In this study, children with hydrocephalus associated with myelomeningocele were least commonly affected. Visual disorders were most frequent in those with epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and/or cognitive disability. [source] Ophthalmological, cognitive, electrophysiological and MRI assessment of visual processing in preterm children without major neuromotor impairmentDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 5 2010Michelle O'Reilly Many studies report chronic deficits in visual processing in children born preterm. We investigated whether functional abnormalities in visual processing exist in children born preterm but without major neuromotor impairment (i.e. cerebral palsy). Twelve such children (< 33 weeks gestation or birthweight < 1000 g) without major neuromotor impairment and 12 born full-term controls were assessed at 8,12 years of age by means of ophthalmological assessment (visual acuity, colour vision, stereopsis, stereoacuity, visual fields, ocular motility, motor fusion), cognitive tests of visual-motor, visual-perceptual and visual-spatial skills and pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials (PR-VEPs). All participants also underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain and neuromotor assessments. No significant differences were found between the groups on the ophthalmological, visual cognitive, neurological, neuromotor or MRI measures. The P100 component of the PR-VEP showed a significantly shorter latency in the preterm compared with the full-term participants. Whilst this P100 finding suggests that subtle abnormalities may exist at the neurophysiological level, we conclude that visual dysfunction is not systematically associated with preterm birth in the context of normal neurological status. [source] Visual Function is Stable in Patients Who Continue Long-Term Vigabatrin Therapy: Implications for Clinical Decision MakingEPILEPSIA, Issue 4 2001Scott R. Paul Summary: ,Purpose: Vigabatrin (VGB) has been shown to cause visual field constriction and other forms of mild visual dysfunction. We determined the safety of continuing VGB therapy in patients who had received prolonged treatment (>2 years) with the drug by serially monitoring changes in visual function over a 1-year period of continued therapy. We also followed up patients who discontinued VGB to see whether alternative therapies are effective. Methods: Fifteen of 17 patients who continued VGB therapy had visual-function testing (visual acuity, color vision, kinetic and static perimetry) every 3 months for 1 year. Eighteen patients who discontinued VGB were given alternative antiepileptic drugs (AEDs); their seizure responses were measured after ,3 months of treatment. Results: Patients continuing VGB showed no worsening of visual acuity, color vision, or visual-field constriction beyond that measured in the initial test. Many patients who discontinued VGB had good seizure control with either newer or previously unsuccessful AEDs. Conclusions: For patients who have an excellent response to VGB and only mild visual changes, continued therapy may be safe with close visual monitoring. Patients who do not have a significant reduction in seizures or who experience considerable visual dysfunction with VGB may respond well to alternative therapies. [source] Progress of visual dysfunction in Parkinson's diseaseACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2002T. Müller Studies on progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) mainly focus on the nigrostriatal dopaminergic decline, but not on the visual system. We determined progression of (i) disturbed color vision, assessed with the Farnsworth,Munsell 100 Hue test (FMT) and (ii) intensity of PD in 18 patients. Significant differences occurred between (i) initial FMT error scores and follow-up results 3 years later (P=0.002) and analogously (ii) scored intensity of PD (P=0.002). A relation between computed differences of FMT error scores and rated activities of daily living appeared. Deterioration of color vision progresses in PD. [source] 3163: Post-traumatic oculomotor disordersACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 2010E EGGENBERGER Trauma is a common ocular motor pathophysiology with a predilection for younger patients. Although afferent visual dysfunction is well known following trauma, the efferent conditions are perhaps less familiar. Trauma has a predilection to produce diplopia, and this may result from muscle, cranial nerve, nuclear, internucelar or supranuclear means. Orbital trauma commonly affects the extraocular muscles with signs to include proptosis and orbital bony abnormalities. CN4 is the most common ocular motor palsy post-trauma, perhaps due to its long course around the midbrain; CN3 or 6 palsies are well know following trauma but often require more severe trauma than CN4 palsies. Supranuclear ocular motor dysfunction is common after trauma (e.g., skew deviation). Oscillopsia has been reported post-trauma, most commonly related to vestibular ocular reflex abnormalities or nystagmus. [source] Choroidal neovascularization associated with cancer-associated retinopathyACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 5 2010Giuseppe Querques Abstract. Purpose:, To report an unusual association between cancer-associated retinopathy (CAR) associated with invasive thymoma and choriodal neovascularization (CNV), treated by photodynamic theraphy (PDT). Methods:, A 39-year-old man affected with thymoma and paraneoplastic syndrome (myasthenia gravis and diarrhoea) was observed between October 1997 and September 2007. The patient developed progressive visual dysfunction including bilateral visual acuity loss and concentric constriction of visual fields. Ophthalmological, immunological and systemic examinations were performed. Immunological evaluations included an assessment of antibody activity by indirect immunohistochemistry on sectioned rhesus monkey eye, and Western blot reactions upon an extract of pig retina. Results:, Fundus ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography revealed retinal vessel attenuation and retinal pigment epithelium degeneration. Electroretinogram suggested both rod and cone dysfunction. Indirect immunohistochemistry identified antibody activity within the photoreceptor outer segments. Western blots on the retina revealed that most of the patient's antibody activity was focused upon a retinal protein antigen approximating 145 kD. These findings share the commonalities of size and retinal distribution of the interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP), a recognized autoantigen. The surgically resected mediastinal tumour was diagnosed as invasive thymoma. No other malignancy has since been found throughout nearly 10 years of follow-up. In March 2006, the patient developed a subfoveal CNV in his left eye, which was treated by PDT. Conclusion:, We describe the third case of paraneoplastic retinopathy associated with invasive thymoma. This is the first example of CAR involving autoantibodies reactive with a retinal protein having the characteristics of the IRBP, and is also the first complicated by CNV treated by PDT. [source] Cognitive visual dysfunctions in preterm children with periventricular leukomalaciaDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 12 2009ELISA FAZZI MD PHD Aim, Cognitive visual dysfunctions (CVDs) reflect an impairment of the capacity to process visual information. The question of whether CVDs might be classifiable according to the nature and distribution of the underlying brain damage is an intriguing one in child neuropsychology. Method, We studied 22 children born preterm (12 males, 10 females; mean age at examination 8y, range 6,15y; mean gestational age 30wks, range 28,36wks) with periventricular leukomalacia, spastic diplegia, normal intelligence (mean Full-scale IQ 84; mean Verbal IQ 97; mean Performance IQ 74), and normal visual acuity, focusing on higher visual functions. Brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) were analysed to establish the presence of lesions along the primary optic pathway, in the occipitoparietal and occipitotemporal regions. Results, Most children displayed an uneven cognitive profile, with deficits in visual object recognition, visual imagery, visual,spatial skills, and visual memory, and sparing of visual associative abilities, non-verbal intelligence, and face and letter recognition. Conventional brain MRI did not document major alterations of parietal and temporal white matter, or cortical alteration of areas involved in visual associative functions. Interpretation, We suggest a widespread involvement of higher visual processing systems, involving both the ventral and dorsal streams, in preterm children with periventricular leukomalacia. The lack of major alterations on conventional MRI does not exclude the possibility of malfunctioning of higher visual processing systems, expressing itself through discrete CVDs. Possible mechanisms underlying these neuropsychological deficits are discussed. [source] |