Cognitive and motor abilities in preschool hydrocephalics

The neuropsychological performance of three groups of preschool children was evaluated: (a) one with hydrocephalus associated with myelomeningocele; (b) one with hydrocephalus associated with intraventricular hemorrhage and very low birth weight; and (c) a nonhydrocephalic normal comparison group. Multivariate profile analysis revealed lower levels of performance on measures of verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills for both groups of hydrocephalic children relative to normals. Comparison of group profiles on tasks requiring figure copying as opposed to figure matching and analysis of specific gross and fine motor skills revealed that both hydrocephalic groups had impaired visual-motor integration in the presence of average visual perceptual matching. In addition, different patterns of motor skill deficits were found for each hydrocephalic group. The results of this study suggest that decreased visual-motor integration and etiology-specific motor deficits are major sequelae of these forms of hydrocephalus in the preschool years.