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Maturation of binocular pattern visual evoked potentials in normal full-term and preterm infants from 1 to 6 months
M S Roy1, M Barsoum-Homsy, J Orquin
1Department of Ophthalmology, Hôpital Sainte-Justine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Insights
Visual evoked potentials (VEP) show rapid visual maturation in infants. Pattern VEP monitoring is useful for both full-term and preterm infants, using corrected age for preterm babies.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Visual development is crucial in early infancy.
- Preterm infants may experience altered visual maturation trajectories.
- Pattern visual evoked potentials (VEP) offer a non-invasive method to assess visual pathway function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the visual development of preterm infants aged 1 to 6 months.
- To compare visual maturation in preterm versus full-term infants using pattern VEP.
- To determine the utility of pattern VEP for monitoring visual development in both infant groups.
Main Methods:
- Pattern VEP were recorded in 24 full-term and 24 preterm infants (26-36 weeks gestation).
- Stimuli included three check sizes: 60, 30, and 15 minutes of arc.
- Analysis focused on P100 wave implicit time and its relation to age and check size.
Main Results:
- Both groups exhibited rapid visual maturation from 1 to 3 months, followed by slower progression.
- P100 implicit time decreased with larger check sizes.
- Maturation in preterm infants correlated with corrected gestational age, not postnatal age.
- Preterm infants (1.5-2.5 months corrected age) showed faster maturation with 60-min checks compared to full-term infants.
Conclusions:
- Pattern VEP is a valuable tool for assessing visual development in infants up to 6 months.
- Corrected age is the appropriate metric for evaluating VEP maturation in preterm infants.
- This method can aid in early detection of visual development variations in both full-term and preterm populations.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the visual development of preterm infants from 1 to 6 mo of age, using the pattern visual evoked potentials (VEP) in response to three check sizes: 60, 30, and 15 min of arc. Pattern VEP were recorded in 24 full-term and 24 preterm infants (26-36 wk of gestation). The results showed a rapid visual maturation between 1 and 3 mo, followed by a slower progression over the next 3 mo, in both groups. The implicit time of the P100 wave of the pattern VEP was also found to shorten with increasing check sizes. The maturation of pattern VEP in preterm infants was shown to be related to their gestational (or corrected) age rather than their postnatal age. The pattern VEP obtained in response to a 60-min check size in preterm infants aged between 1.5 and 2.5 mo (corrected age) showed a tendency for a faster maturation than those of full-term infants. Our results suggest that within the first 6 mo of age, pattern VEP response is useful to monitor visual development in full-term infants as well as in preterm infants using corrected age.