Clinical Profiles of Cerebral Visual Impairment in Suburban Area in Malaysia

Abstract Aim: To describe visual potential, etiologies, and associated ocular and neurological deficits in children with Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) in suburban area in Malaysia, and to discuss the clinical profiles in relation to available published reports. Materials: A retrospective study involving 31 children with CVI aged less than 17 years old was conducted at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia between January 2003 and December 2013. Demographic data and clinical profiles were reviewed. Results: Both genders were affected equally. The majority of the children were categorized as blind at presentation. Five patients (16.1%) showed improvement of one to two lines on a Snellen visual acuity chart at oneyear follow up, of which two had refractive errors and three had optic neuropathy. The most common etiology was perinatal asphyxia (58.1%). Optic disc atrophy (51.6%), global developmental delay (87.1%) and seizures (77.4%) were the most common ocular and neurological deficits observed. Conclusion: The clinical profile of Malaysian children with CVI is fairly similar to published studies from the United States, Canada and New Zealand. Perinatal asphyxia was the most common etiology, but was two times higher than documented data from developed countries. This suggests a strong need for global improvement of the perinatal strategies in our policy. Rehabilitation programs are another issue that merits attention. More data from developing countries will be helpful for a better global approach.