Objective: To describe the characteristics of cerebral visual impairment (CVI) in children with cerebral palsy (CP) attending a tertiary care referral centre in Australia. Method: Prospective cross- sectional study, children aged 3 months to ≤14 years with/high risk of CP or neu-rodevelopmental delay and a clinical MRI already performed were recruited. All children underwent a complete ophthalmological and visuo-perceptual assessment. Results: One hundred and two children, M:F = 2:1, age range 7 months-14 years were recruited. Most common motor type and distribution (18) was spastic quadriple-gia. Features suggestive of CVI were seen in 98 of the cohort. Definite CVI seen in (62) with predominantly dorsal stream dysfunction seen in 42 of children. Per-iventricular leucomalacia accounted for 75 of the brain lesion, with hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (50) being the most common aetiology of brain injury. Nearly 32 of participants had visual acuity < 6/60, 32 had hypo accommodation, 18 had convergent squint and 61 of children required hypermetropic correction. Among the visual perceptual dysfunction: impaired visual attention (83), simultanagnosia (55), problems with clutter (89), impaired visual guidance of hands (49), lower visual field defects (51) and impaired recognition of faces (18) of the cohort. Conclusion: CVI is an under recognised clinical presentation in children with CP. It is important that all children with early brain injury with high risk of CP oradverse neurodevelopmental outcome have a detailed ophthalmological and CVI assessment performed to help understand the underpinnings of CVI and initiate rehabilitative strategies early to improve the quality of life of these children.
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