Partial visual recovery in two fullterm infants after perinatal hypoxia

Behavioural methods were used to asses the visual development of two infants with a history of severe perinatal hypoxia. Both infants were born fullterm and showed hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy and subsequent cerebral palsy. Low visual acuity, small and asymmetrical visual fields, asymmetrical binocular and monocular OKN, and absent visual threat response were demonstrated initially. Ophthalmological examination revealed strabismus, but no further abnormalities. Longitudinal assessments up to the age of two years showed impressive (partial) improvements of visual functions. The mechanisms for these improvements is unknown. The present study emphasizes the necessity of repeated testing of visual functions in infants with cerebral damage after perinatal hypoxia.