Ocular manifestations in children with developmental delay preliminary report

To investigate systemic diseases and ocular problems among children with developmental delay, forty-one children (28 boys and 13 girls with a mean age of 3.53 +/- 2.25 y/o) were enrolled in this study. In addition to ocular examinations, we used centrality, steadiness, fixation and flash visual evoked potentials (VEPs) tests on all of the children. We found that 23 children (56.10%) had ocular problems with optic atrophy and strabismus being the two most common ocular abnormalities. The two major clinical manifestations of developmentally delayed children were mental and motor retardation. The primary test of centrality, steadiness and fixation and visual evoked potentials could be useful tools in evaluating the visual pathway and ocular motility. Preliminary results showed that more than half of the children with developmental delay had certain ocular abnormalities. The high incidence of ocular abnormalities deserves careful attention when these children are brought to seek medical help. Further study of ocular problems among developmentally delayed children and a search for more reliable examination method should be encouraged.