Early assessment of visual function in full term newborns.
BACKGROUND
The assessment of visual function is part of all the neonatal neurological examination but it is often limited to the evaluation of ocular movements and the ability to fix and follow a target.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a simple battery of test items assessing different aspects of visual function that could be used as early as 48 h after birth.


METHODS
: The final battery, which has been used in 50 full term low risk neonates, includes 9 items assessing ocular motility, both spontaneous and with focus on a visual target, fixation and tracking (horizontal, vertical and in an arc), the ability to discriminate stripes of different spatial frequency, and attention at distance.


RESULTS
The battery proved easy to perform and did not require long training. The testing did not require a specific setting and was easy to use even for infants in incubators. The equipment is small and cleanable.


CONCLUSIONS
Our paper suggests that a simple battery, which can be performed in 5/10 min, can be easily applied and provides useful information on various aspects of early neonatal visual function.
Ricci
Daniela
D
Paediatric Neurology Unit, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
Cesarini
Laura
L
Groppo
Michela
M
De Carli
Agnese
A
Gallini
Francesca
F
Serrao
Francesca
F
Fumagalli
Monica
M
Cowan
Frances
F
Ramenghi
Luca A
LA
Anker
Shirley
S
Mercuri
Eugenio
E
Mosca
Fabio
F
D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015588:Observer Variation; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods*