Visual field loss in young children and mentally handicapped adolescents receiving vigabatrin.
OBJECTIVE
In adult patients and in children of school age who have been treated with vigabatrin (VGB), persistent visual field defects have been reported as a side effect. To date, it is unknown to what extent VGB causes visual field loss in young children and mentally handicapped adolescents who cannot be tested with conventional perimetric


METHODS
The purpose of the present study was to investigate VGB-induced visual field loss in these patients by using a noncommercial arc perimeter and a forced-choice, preferential-looking method. The visual field size was measured in 30 patients aged 1 to 15 years who had epilepsy and who were treated with VGB. The visual field of these patients was compared to the visual field of 70 control subjects.


RESULTS
In eight (27%) patients who had been treated with VGB, the visual field was constricted compared with the visual field of the children belonging to the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
Arc perimetry shows that mentally handicapped patients and children younger than 6 years treated with VGB have visual field loss compared with the loss reported in adult patients receiving VGB.
Werth
Reinhard
R
Institute for Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University of Munich, Munich, Germany. r.werth@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Schädler
Gereon
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities; D020888:Vigabatrin / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced*; D058609:Visual Field Tests / Q000379:methods; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000187:drug effects*
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D020888:Vigabatrin