This course presents the latest information concerning cortical visual impairment, its etiology, diagnosis and treatment. Various topics reviewed include cortical vs cerebral visual impairment, ventral/dorsal visual streams, visual acuity, and contrast sensitivity. Also discussed are various retinoscopy techniques, overlapping functional vision disorders, and visual stimulation/therapy for these disorders.
Course Objectives
At the end of this course, the participant will:
Be able to identify cortical vs cerebral visual impairment
Be able to access various vision functions such as visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, oculomotor and accommodative disorders
Be able to treat the diagnosed vision problems with all the tools available to the optometrist (spectacles, low vision devices, vision rehabilitative techniques)
Be aware of and use outside resources to supplement and add to any therapeutic interventions recommended
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Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
History of CVI
Brain injury 19th century
with Phineas P. Gage
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
World War I, wounded
veterans with brain injury
Displayed perceived motion
in the “blind, non‐seeing”
visual field.
Ability to sense motion,
lights, and colors
Conscious or subconscious.
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Statokinetic dissociation (in children)
greater reduction in sensitivity to stationary visual stimuli relative to
similar targets in motion
Riddoch phenomenon (adults)
Ability to sense movement even though blind
“See” moving objects…but not stationary ones
Blindsight
Ability to ‘sense’ objects in the way
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Statokinetic dissociation (in children)
Movement in the peripheral visual field may elicit a
smile in the blind child with quadraplegia and profound
intellectual disability.
Children who are fed with a spoon may intermittently
open their mouths to receive food when the spoon is
moved in an arc from the peripheral visual fields, but
not when it approaches the mouth from straight
ahead.
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Statokinetic dissociation (in children)
For those children who understand language stating what
is being seen as the child reacts to it may enhance both
visual and language development.
Such children may rock to and fro. Whether this generates
an image is difficult to know.
Rarely, children with cerebral blindness who are mobile
move slowly around obstacles. This phenomenon has been
called travel vision (Blindsight).
Alesterlund L, Maino D. That the blind may see: A review: Blindsight and its implications for
optometrists. J Optom Vis Dev 1999;30(2):86‐93
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
1980’s adults with bilateral occipital cortex insult
(cortical blindness)
Term applied to children.
Cortical visual impairment used in the 1980’s
onward
Definition of CVI includes injury lateral
geniculate nucleus/visual cortex
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Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Reduced visual acuity identifying feature.
Many children damage to white matter
surrounding the ventricals (perventricular
leukomalacia PVL)
Cerebral Visual Impairment now used
(especially in Europe)
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Cerebral visual impairment: inclusive term
Reduced visual acuity
Oculomotor anomalies
Visual field loss
Vision information processing problems
Cognitive Visual Dysfunction (CVD)
Used to identify visual perceptual anomalies
Used to identify vision information processing
problems
Cerebral vs Cortical Visual Impairment
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Classification of CVI
Ocular visual impairment: Refractive state. Optics,
Eye health
Cerebral visual impairment: Neuro‐pathway
problems, cortical problems, oculomotor
dysfunction, vision information processing (dorsal
and ventral streaming processing mechanisms)
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
The ventral stream (also known as the "what
pathway") travels to the temporal lobe and is
involved with object identification. The dorsal stream
(or, "where pathway") terminates in the parietal lobe
and process spatial locations.
Pediatric Cortical Visual Impairment
Reduced visual acuity due to a
“brain problem”
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Delayed Visual Maturation (DVM)
DVM type I Visually impaired infants: improved visual
abilities by the age of 6 months, often without
treatment.
DVM type II: attention problems, associated with
neurological/learning abnormalities. Improvement
takes longer
DVM III: children have nystagmus, albinism. Vision
improves later, can improve to low‐normal levels.
DVM IV: associated with retinal,
optic nerve, macular anomalies
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Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Perceptual Learning vs Vision Therapy
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Thinking Outside the LightBox
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
What follows is supplemental information
to the presentation, resources and
references that are not necessarily a part of
this presentation, but which I thought you
would like to have for your own
information.
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
How Do Environmental Factors,
Medications and Non‐Visual Handicaps
Affect the Evaluation and Treatment of
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment?
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
For individuals with disability…
Medications: Prescribed many more medications
Higher affinity for adverse effects due to
environmental/systemic factors
Seldom complain of symptoms related to their disability,
systemic anomalies, or medication side effects
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Alternative and complementary
medical therapies
Maino D. Evidence based medicine and CAM: a review. Optom Vis Dev 2012;43(1):13‐17
Lemer P. Complementary and Alternative Approaches. In Taub M, Bartuccio M, Maino D.
Visual Diagnosis and Care of Patients with Special Needs. Lippincott, Williams, Wilkins.
2012
Traditional allopathic approaches
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Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Mental illnesses in children
Pediatric Bipolar disorder
Pediatric depression
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Major environmental hazard: People
do not know how to respond
make assumptions
true for lay individuals, teacher, health care
professionals
Medication Side Effects
Antidepressants
Abdominal pain/constipation Blurred vision
Abnormal dreams/thinking Increased risk of
Disturbances
Anxiety Photophobia
Medication Side Effects
Anticonvulsants
Memory problems/amnesia Blurred vision
Sedation Dimming of vision
Insomnia Diplopia
Bronchitis Involuntary eye movements
Fluid retention Dry eye
Medication Side Effects
Anti-Parkisons
Abnormal dreams/insomnia Vision
abnormalities
Increased muscle tone/weakness Blurred vision
Involuntary movements Mydriasis
Hallucinations Decreased
accommodation
Medication Side Effects
Tranquilizers
Breast development in men Risk of narrow angle GLC
Breathing problems Cycloplegia/Mydriasis
Insomnia Decreased vision
Tardive dyskinesia Capsular cataract
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Medication Side Effects
Anti-anxiety
Anemia Decreased accommodation
Seizures Nystagmus
Blood disorders Diplopia
Unusual excitement Mydriasis
PCVI: References
Dutton GN, Bax M. (eds). Visual impairment in children due to damage to
the brain. Clinics in Developmental Medicine. no 186. MacKieth Press.
London;2010.
Strategies for dealing with visual problems due to cerebral visual
impairment: Gillian McDaid, Debbie Cockburn, Gordon N Dutton available
from http://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/courses/vi&multi/vjan08i.html
Alesterlund L, Maino D. That the blind may see: A review: Blindsight and
its implications for optometrists. J Optom Vis Dev 1999;30(2):86‐93
Kran B. Mayer L. Vision impairment and brain damage. In Taub M,
Bartuccio M, Maino D. (Eds) Visual Diagnosis and Care of the Patient with
Special Needs. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins , NY, New York; 2012:135‐
146.
PCVI: References
Colenbrander A. What’s in a name? Appropriate terminology
for CVI. J Vis Impair Blind. 2010:583‐585
Roman Lantzy CA, Lantzy A. Outcomes and opportunities: A
study of children with cortical visual impairment. J Vis Impair
Blind. 2010:649‐653.
http://www.aph.org/cvi/define.html
Cerebral Visual Impairment in Periventricular Leukomalacia:
MR Correlation: Available from
http://www.ajnr.org/content/17/5/979.full.pdf
References
Luek AH. Cortical or cerebral visual impairment in children: A brief
overview. J Vis Impair Blind. 2010:585‐592.
Woodhouse JM, Maino DM. Down syndrome: In Taub M, Bartuccio
M, Maino D. (Eds) Visual Diagnosis and Care of the Patient with
Special Needs. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins , NY, New York; 2012:31‐
40.
Wesson M, Maino D. Oculo‐visual findings in Down syndrome,
cerebral palsy, and mental retardation with non‐specific etiology. In
Maino D (ed). Diagnosis and Management of Special Populations.
Mosby‐Yearbook, Inc. St. Louis, MO. 1995:17‐54.
Taub M, Reddell A. Cerebral Palsy. In Taub M, Bartuccio M, Maino D.
(Eds) Visual Diagnosis and Care of the Patient with Special Needs.
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins , NY, New York; 2012:21‐30.
References
Ciuffreda K, Kapoor N. Acquired brain injury. In
Taub M, Bartuccio M, Maino D. (Eds) Visual
Diagnosis and Care of the Patient with Special
Needs. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins , NY, New
York; 2012:95‐100.
Roman‐Lantzy, C. Cortical visual impairment: An
approach to assessment and intervention. AFB
Press, NY, New York; 2007.
http://www.MainosMemos.blogspot.com
Pediatric Cerebral Visual Impairment
Resources
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Thinkingoutsidethelightbox)
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/achampine0302/cortical‐visual‐
impairment‐cvi‐goodies/
Blogs http://www.MainosMemos.blogspot.com
Apps http://www.sovoto.com/group/apps4VisionDevelopment
Infant Visual Stimulations https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/infant‐
visual‐stimulation/id427443223
Infant Visual Stimulation Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyj5PqwUn0w
COVD http://www.COVD.org
OEPF http://www.OEPF.org
Vision Help blog http://visionhelp.wordpress.com/
MainosMemos http://www.MainosMemos.blogspot.com