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Multifocal VEP in children: its maturation and clinical application
C Balachandran1, A I Klistorner, F Billson
1Save Sight Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Sydney, Macquarie Street, PO Box 1614, Sydney 2001, Australia. Chandra@eye.usyd.edu.au
The British Journal of Ophthalmology
|January 23, 2004
Summary
Multifocal visual evoked potentials (VEP) mature with age in children, with amplitude increasing significantly between 11-13 years and latency stabilizing by 13. This objective test aids in diagnosing visual pathway diseases in children.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Assessing visual pathway maturation in children is crucial for diagnosing optic nerve diseases.
- Multifocal visual evoked potentials (mfVEP) offer an objective method to evaluate visual function.
Observation:
- mfVEP amplitude shows a sigmoid relationship with age, with significant development between 11-13 years.
- Latency decreases with age, stabilizing around 13 years.
- Scaled mfVEP amplitude demonstrates reduced variability and age-related changes across tested eccentricities.
Findings:
- The study established normative mfVEP maturation data in 70 healthy children aged 5-16 years.
- mfVEP successfully identified visual field defects in children with optic nerve glioma and congenital glaucoma.
- Age-related changes in mfVEP amplitude and latency provide a developmental timeline for the visual pathway.
Implications:
- mfVEP perimetry is a valuable, objective tool for diagnosing visual field deficits in pediatric patients.
- This technique can document visual pathway abnormalities in children as young as 5 years old.
- mfVEP can aid in early diagnosis and management of optic pathway diseases before subjective testing is feasible.