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Measuring recovery of visual function in children with papilledema using sweep visual evoked potentials
Eedy Mezer1, Carol A Westall2, Giuseppe Mirabella3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; Ruth & Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
Insights
Sweep visual evoked potentials (VEP) can detect vision improvements in children with papilledema. This method identified enhanced contrast sensitivity after treatment for raised intracranial pressure.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Neurology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Papilledema, often caused by raised intracranial pressure, can affect visual function in children.
- Assessing visual function in pediatric papilledema is crucial for monitoring treatment efficacy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate visual function in children with papilledema using sweep visual evoked potentials (VEP).
- To determine if vision function improves after treatment for papilledema.
Main Methods:
- Prospective measurement of contrast sensitivity and grating acuity using sweep VEP in children with mild to moderate papilledema.
- Longitudinal testing of a subset of patients before and after treatment.
- Comparison with age-matched control subjects using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Main Results:
- Nine children and 11 controls were included; 5 children were studied longitudinally.
- Children with papilledema had poorer grating acuity compared to controls.
- Four patients demonstrated improved contrast sensitivity post-treatment.
Conclusions:
- Sweep VEP is effective in detecting early visual improvements in children with papilledema.
- This technique can reveal enhanced contrast sensitivity during raised intracranial pressure treatment, even before clinical signs of disk edema resolve.
Purpose:
To assess visual function in children with papilledema using sweep visual evoked potentials (VEP) to determine whether vision function improved following treatment.
Methods:
Contrast sensitivity and grating acuity were prospectively measured by using sweep visual evoked potential testing in children with mild or moderate acute papilledema. A subset of children were tested longitudinally before and after treatment. Subject data was compared with that of age-matched controls using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test.
Results:
A total of 9 subjects (age range, 9-16 years) and 11 controls were included; 5 subjects were studied longitudinally. The control group's logMAR grating acuity (mean, 0.09; range, -0.13 to 0.36) was better than that of the papilledema group (mean, 0.36; range 0.15-0.59). Four patients showed recovery of contrast sensitivity following treatment of their raised intracranial pressure between first and last visit.
Conclusions:
In our study cohort, sweep VEP was able to detect early improvement in contrast sensitivity despite absence of apparent clinical change in disk edema in children undergoing treatment for raised intracranial pressure.
