Structure of Neurological Pathology in Children with Impaired Visual Functions

In children’s neurology, problems of diagnosis and correction of the effects of perinatal lesions of the central nervous system, having a different structure and severity depending on the age of patients, are relevant. Comorbid conditions, to which, to a certain extent, neurological diseases in children associated with functional and structural disorders of the visual system can be attributed.

Aim. To study the features of neurological pathology, concomitant to violation of visual functions in children of different age groups.

Methods. A neurological examination of 549 children from 3 to 16 years old with various diseases of the visual system was performed. To assess the age characteristics the patients were divided into three groups of preschool, junior and senior school age. The study included a retrospective analysis of ambulatory cards, an interview with parents and an assessment of objective neurological status. If there were indications, additional examination was prescribed (spondylography with functional tests, electroencephalography and others).

Results. The features of the structural distribution of neurological pathology in children, which differed from those in the general population, were identified. The dominant disorders are neuro-orthopedic disorders in the form of dorsopathies at the level of the cervical spine.

Conclusion. In the structure of neurological pathology in children with structural and functional changes in the visual system, the symptom complex prevails, which is typical for minimal effects of natal damage to the cervical spine, confirmed by X-ray studies. Also a certain relationship of neurological and ophthalmic pathology was identified. The consequences of perinatal central nervous system damage and peripheral cervical insufficiency, as manifestations of dorsopathy, were more often associated with strabismus. In the same group, the maximum number of children with partial atrophy of the optic nerve was revealed.

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