Homonymous Hemianopia in Cerebral Palsy children with Abnormal Head Posture

Abstract

Background: Cerebral palsy occurs if brain does not develop normally or due to damage of brain before, during or just after birth caused by any infection in pregnancy, genetic disorders or trauma causing different visual problems (homonymous hemianopia) instead of developmental issues.

Objective: To assess homonymous hemianopia in cerebral palsy children with abnormal head posture.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study with non-probability purposive Sampling technique conducted in six months from September 2019 to February 2020. The sample size was 60 and data was collected from Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital, Children Hospital Lahore and Amin Maktab special education center. Spastic hemiplegic Cerebral palsy children with abnormal head posture aged 1.5 to 17 years were included. Children with hearing or visual loss were excluded. The Behavioral visual field screening test (BEFIE) was used to assess homonymous hemianopia.

Results: Out of 60 CP children with postural abnormalities 60% (n=36) presented with homonymous hemianopia while 40% (n=24) were without hemianopia. In accordance with presence of hemianopia in CP, most common postural adaptation was ‘turning away of head’ 26.67% (n=16) while children with ‘head rocking, flapping’ showed lowest results with 6.67% (n=4) when looking at peripheral stimulus.

Conclusion: Vision plays a specific role in controlling head position in CP children. Homonymous hemianopia was present in more than half cerebral palsy children with abnormal head posture.

Key Terms: Abnormal head posture, Cerebral Palsy, Homonymous Hemianopia