Assessment of cerebral visual impairment with the L94 visual perceptual battery: clinical value and correlation with MRI findings

Abstract

In this article we describe visual perceptual abilities of a clinical population, referred for visual problems to our multidisciplinary team and assessed with the five computer tasks from the L94 visual perceptual battery. Clinical and neuroimaging findings were correlated with the findings on this task battery. Seventy children (35 males, 35 females) constituted our cohort. Age ranged from 4 to 20 years (mean 7y [SD 3y]). Forty children were born before 37 weeks gestational age. Thirty-six children had cerebral palsy (CP), of whom 24 had spastic diplegia, five had spastic hemiplegia, and four had spastic quadriplegia. Three children had ataxic CP. Perceptual visual impairment (PVI) was established in comparison to the performance age obtained on non-verbal intelligence subtests, instead of chronological age. Our results suggest that children with a history of preterm birth and a clinical CP picture are most at risk for a specific PVI. Correlations among other clinical variables did not define a clinical subgroup more at risk. Children with periventricular leucomalacia were almost equally represented in both PVI and non-PVI groups. Normal magnetic resonance imaging did not exclude the presence of PVI. In these children, however, we found another impairment profile, more in favour of dorsal stream impairment.Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is a neurological disorder caused by dysfunction of the retrochiasmatic visual pathways and projection areas in the absence of any major ocular disease.

Motion perception in preterm children: role of prematurity and brain damage

“…In addition, a series of recent studies reported abnormal sensitivity to point-light biological motion, a stimulus containing form information [11], in preterm participants with periventricular brain injury (PVL), but not in agematched low-risk preterms [5][6][7]. Consistent with our results, significant disorders of form recognition have been reported in preterm children with PVL [12][13][14][15], but not in those without brain damage [16].…”

Is there consensus in defining childhood cerebral visual impairment? A systematic review of terminology and definitions

“…This raises the question of how brain damage is clinically defined. For example, children born preterm may have elevated levels of visual perceptual difficulties even with MRI scans reported as normal27; is a known risk factor sufficient? Currently, the component of Brain Integrity is only inferential and assumes that clinical visual symptoms originate at brain level.…”

Visual perception, visual-spatial cognition and mathematics: Associations and predictions in children with cerebral palsy

“…Many children with CP have visual-spatial perceptual impairments despite typical or near-typical visual acuity (Akhutina, Foreman, Krichevets, & Vahakuopus, 2003;Ego et al, 2015;Menken, Cermak, & Fisher, 1987;Reed & Drake, 1990;Ortibus, Lagae, Casteels, Demaerel, & Stiers, 2009;Stadskleiv, Jahnsen, Andersen, & von Tetzchner, 2017). Ego et al (2015), in a systematic review of visual-perceptual impairments in children with CP, identified 15 studies which included one of five standardised tests that assessed visual perception.…”