Use of sweep visual evoked potential in preverbal children with optic nerve hypoplasia.

PubMed ID: 35577018

Author(s): Bradfield YS, Ver Hoeve JN, Aul B, Struck MC. Use of sweep visual evoked potential in preverbal children with optic nerve hypoplasia. J AAPOS. 2022 Jun;26(3):131.e1-131.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2022.01.012. Epub 2022 May 13. PMID 35577018

Journal: Journal Of Aapos : The Official Publication Of The American Association For Pediatric Ophthalmology And Strabismus, Volume 26, Issue 3, Jun 2022

PURPOSE To evaluate sweep VEP (sVEP) in preverbal children with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) and to assess associations between sVEP results, patient clinical characteristics and future recognition visual acuity.

METHODS The medical records of children with ONH who had sVEP testing and documented recognition visual acuity at the University of Wisconsin from 2005 to 2013 were reviewed retrospectively. Optic nerve size, amblyopia treatment, and neurologic diagnoses were collected.

RESULTS A total of 57 patients were included: 41 (71%) with bilateral ONH and 27 (47%) with neurologic abnormality. Mean age at initial sVEP was 13.3 months (range, 1-32). Mean duration between initial sVEP and final recognition acuity was 5.5 years (range, 3.5-7). Sweep VEP was associated with ONH severity (P < 0.05). Sweep VEP, and the combination of ONH severity and neurologic status, were significant predictors (P < 0.05) of logMAR optotype acuity, together accounting for 54%-61% of the variance in final recognition acuity.

CONCLUSIONS Sweep VEP in preverbal children with ONH depends on ONH severity and correlates with final recognition visual acuity. Children with milder degrees of ONH without neurologic abnormalities had better final vision, and patients with severe ONH and neurologic diagnoses had worse vision outcomes.