Summary:Purpose: To study the prevalence and features of visual field constrictions (VFCs) associated with vigabatrin (VGB) in children.Methods: A systematic collection of all children with any history of VGB treatment in fifteen Finnish neuropediatric units was performed, and children were included after being able to cooperate reliably in repeated visual field tests by Goldmann kinetic perimetry. This inclusion criterion yielded 91 children (45 boys; 46 girls) between ages 5.6 and 17.9 years. Visual field extent <70 degrees in the temporal meridian was considered abnormal VFC.Results: There was a notable variation in visual field extents between successive test sessions and between different individuals. VFCs <70 degrees were found in repeated test sessions in 17 (18.7%) of 91 children. There was no difference in the ages at the study, the ages at the beginning of treatment, the total duration of the treatment, general cognitive performance, or neuroradiologic findings between the patients with normal visual fields and those with VFC, but the patients with VFC had received a higher total dose of VGB. In linear regression analysis, there were statistically significant inverse correlations between the temporal extent of the visual fields and the total dose and the duration of VGB treatment. The shortest duration of VGB treatment associated with VFC was 15 months, and the lowest total dose 914 g.Conclusions. Because of a wide variation in normal visual-field test results in children, the prevalence figures of VFCs are highly dependent on the definition of normality. Although our results confirm the previous findings that VFC may occur in children treated with VGB, our study points out the need to reevaluate critically any suspected VFC to avoid misdiagnosis. Nevertheless, our study suggests that the prevalence of VFC may be lower in children than in adults, and that the cumulative dose of VGB or length of VGB therapy may add to the personal predisposition for developing VFC.

Although a slight general cost of bilingualism was found in the language profile of the six-year olds in this study, a bilingual background was not associated with more severe language problems in the LI Risk Group. Thus, there would seem to be no need to shield language-impaired children from opportunities for dual language learning.

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Aim: There is little data on whether or not a bilingual upbringing may aggravate specific language problems in children. This study analysed whether there was an interaction of such problems and simultaneous bilingualism.Methods: Participants were 5-to 7-year-old children with specific language problems (LANG group, N = 56) or who were typically developing (CONTR group, N = 60). Seventy-three children were Swedish-Finnish bilingual and 43 were Swedish-speaking monolingual. Assessments (in Swedish) included tests of expressive language, comprehension, repetition and verbal memory.Results: Per definition, the LANG group had lower scores than the CONTR group on all language tests. The bilingual group had lower scores than the monolingual group only on a test of body part naming. Importantly, the interaction of group (LANG or CONTR) and bilingualism was not significant on any of the language scores.

This investigation assessed the effectiveness of a phonological intervention program on the brain functioning of bilingual Finnish 6- to 7-year-old preschool children diagnosed with specific language impairment (SLI). The intervention program was implemented by preschool teachers to small groups of children including children with SLI. A matched group of other bilingual children with SLI received a physical exercise program and served as a control group. Auditory evoked magnetic fields were measured before and after the intervention with an oddball paradigm. The brain activity recordings were followed by a behavioral discrimination test. Our results show that, in children with SLI, the positive intervention effect is reflected in plastic changes in the brain activity of the left and right auditory cortices.