title: Application of a neonatal assessment of visual function in a population of low risk full-term newborn.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We have previously developed and described a battery of 9 items suitable for assessing different clinical aspects of visual function in newborn infants.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Application of the test battery to a cohort of low risk term-born infants at 48 and 72 h after birth 1) to define the normative distribution of results for each item and 2) to document any effect of postnatal age.
  
  
  METHODS
  124 term-born low risk infants were assessed at 48 h; fifty of them were re-assessed 24 h later at 72 h.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The visual test battery was successfully completed in 110 of the 124 infants assessed at 48 h and in all the 50 infants assessed at 72 h after birth. For 3 of the 9 items (fixation on a black/white target of concentric circles, on a coloured (red/yellow) face and horizontal tracking), the findings were very similar at both ages. For the remaining 6 items the range of findings was wider. There was a statistical difference in the responses obtained at 48 and 72 h for vertical and arc tracking (p<0.05) and the ability to discriminate stripes and attention at distance (p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results provide information on the visual abilities in a low risk population of term-born infants and the distribution of frequency of their visual responses to our battery of visual tests. These findings may be used as reference data when using our visual test battery in both clinical and research settings.
authors.affiliation: Paediatric Neurology Unit, Catholic University, Rome, Italy. daniricciola@libero.it
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Domenico M M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Romeo
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Serrao
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cesarini
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gallini
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cota
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.forename: Antonio A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zuppa
authors.forename: Costantino
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romagnoli
authors.forename: Frances
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mercuri
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D012307:Risk Factors; D014787:Vision Tests; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology