title: Raised in Darkness: A 7-Month-Old With Nystagmus From Severe Visual Deprivation.
abstract: Child neglect is the most common form of child maltreatment and accounts for 60% of all cases reported to child protective services. Whereas physical and emotional neglect account for a quarter of the reported cases of child neglect, educational neglect accounts for half of the cases. We describe a 7-month-old infant with several manifestations of physical and emotional neglect including excessive quietness, failure to thrive, global developmental delay, and a gastric lactobezoar. In addition, our patient had a fine, lateral nystagmus likely due to being kept in the dark for long periods. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of acquired nystagmus due to visual deprivation from child neglect.
authors.affiliation: From the *Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles; †Department of Pediatrics, Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center, Harbor City; and ‡Department of Pediatrics, Kaiser Permanente Sacramento/Roseville Medical Center, Lincoln, CA.
authors.forename: Cynthia H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Jasmine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zargarpour
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003624:Darkness; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D005183:Failure to Thrive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant