BACKGROUND:

Although pediatric patients are sometimes included in studies about visual problems in patients with acquired brain injury (ABI), few studies deal solely with children. Unlike studies dealing with adult patients, in which mechanisms of brain injury are divided into cerebral vascular accident (CVA) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), studies on pediatric patients deal almost exclusively with traumatic brain injury, specifically caused by accidents.

CASE REPORT:

Here we report on the vision problems of 4 pediatric patients, ages 3 to 18 years, who were examined in the ophthalmology/optometry clinic at a children's hospital. All patients had an internally caused brain injury and after the initial insult manifested problems in at least one of the following areas: acuity, binocularity, motility (tracking or saccades), accommodation, visual fields, and visual perceptual skills.

CONCLUSION:

Pediatric patients can suffer from a variety of oculo-visual problems after the onset of head injury. These patients may or may not be symptomatic and can benefit from optometric intervention.

Copyright © 2010 American Optometric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.