Abstract
Adult patients suffering from post-chiasmatic lesions are able to increase their defect visual field size of an average of about 5° visual angle after Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT). To investigate visual plasticity effects in children an ongoing prospective study of 18 children and students, age 6–17, with visual field defects due to stroke, tumor or head trauma was conducted. Lesion age was beyond 1 year. The children trained for 3 months with a software presenting stimuli in areas of residual vision of the visual field. Training was performed five times a week for 20–40 minutes a day in their homes. Post training results revealed increased light detection in automated static high resolution perimetry. The number of detected stimuli (%) increased significantly pre-post training from 36.44% (19.19) to 41.61% (15.20). No significant changes had occurred during a non-treatment period. Results remained stable after a three- month- follow- up. Fixation and false positives responses were experimentally controlled and changes in these indicators were not significant. In conclusion, children and students with visual cortical impairments are able to enlarge their visual field as measured in supra-threshold perimetry after systematic light stimulation.
Supported by Innomed e.V. Sachsen-Anhalt, European Union.