Visual function vs. spastic quadriplegia & brain damage

Purpose: To investigate whether visual function is related to severity of spastic diplegia (SDCP) and brain damage. Methods: 28 SDCP children participated in this study. All of them were classified according to Gross Motor Functional Classification System (GMFCS) and also had a brain MRI and an eye testing (visual resolution evaluation and strabismus assessment), using the VFA-K test Results: The brain MRI showed that: 23 children appeared with mild to moderate periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), 2 with severe PVL, none with cortical atrophy, 3 with combined PVL and cortical atrophy and none with parenchymatic atrophy. According to GMFCS classification, 6 appeared with good motor function, 11 with a mild motor problem, 9 with moderate motor problem, 2 with severe motor disability and none with very severe disability. In visual testing, 7 children appeared with 0.87cpd and 21 children appeared with 1.75cpd; also, 24 children were orthophoric, 4 esotropic (25-60Δ) and none was exotropic. Conclusions: The visual function is not much affected in the majority of SDCP children, unless GMFCS score and brain damage are significantly affected.