[Visual evoked potentials in children with gliomas of the optic nerve and chiasm]

Marked changes of visual evoked potentials (VEP) were revealed in patients with gliomas of the optic nerves and chiasm in preserved visual acuity of one eye. The more caudal the spread of the tumor, the more manifest were the prolongation of the peak latencies of the main VEP components, the diminution of their amplitude, and the change of the relation of the signal to the noise. It is shown that VEP examination together with analysis of the ophthalmological picture may facilitate the differential diagnosis of glioma of the optic nerves and chiasm from inflammatory processes and suprasellar tumors.