title: Comparative Study of Refractive Errors, Strabismus, Microsaccades, and Visual Perception Between Preterm and Full-Term Children With Infantile Cerebral Palsy.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the refractive status, orthoptic status and visual perception in a group of preterm and another of full-term children with cerebral palsy, in order to investigate whether prematurity has an effect on the development of refractive errors and binocular disorders. A hundred school-aged children, 70 preterm and 30 full-term, with congenital cerebral palsy were examined. Differences for hypermetropia, myopia, and emmetropia were not statistically significant between the 2 groups. Astigmatism was significantly increased in the preterm group. The orthoptic status was similar for both groups. Visual perception was markedly reduced in both groups, but the differences were not significant. In conclusion, children with cerebral palsy have impaired visual skills, leading to reading difficulties. The presence of prematurity does not appear to represent an additional risk factor for the development of refractive errors and binocular disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hippokration General Hospital, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kozeis
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Geneva University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland gdpanos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Georgios D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Panos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hippokration General Hospital, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dimitrios I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Zafeiriou
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Cantonal Hospital of Fribourg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Gottrau
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Geneva University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Zisis
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Gatzioufas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010468:Perceptual Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000209:etiology*; D013285:Strabismus / Q000209:etiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: cerebral palsy; microsaccades; refractive errors; strabismus; visual function