Innovative Procedures Correct Vision In Kids With Cerebral Palsy

Children with cerebral palsy often suffer from poor vision, which if left untreated, can lead to blindness. The consequences of severe visual impairment can be devastating for a child with cerebral palsy. In fact, many children suffer socially as a result.

Recently, Janice Brunstrom, a neurologist who herself has cerebral palsy, decided to solicit the help of pediatric ophthalmologist Lawrence Tychsen to formulate some possible solutions for children whose daily lives are inhibited by poor eyesight.

Dr. Tychsen, who is ophthalmologist in chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital, came up with specialized vision testing for children with neurological disorders like cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and autism.

“We work with the most profoundly impaired children who are the most difficult to examine,” he said.

Many of the children, he said, are unable to communicate or are uncooperative. Dr. Tychsen and his staff use various techniques to measure eyesight, including a non-invasive, electronic technique and several others.

Depending on the severity of the impairment, Dr. Tychsen recommends any of the following procedures:

LASEK – laser-assisted subepithelial keratectomy which differs from LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) in that it does not require a surgical flap to be cut in the eye and also can correct more severe vision problems.
Phakic Intraocular lens is a procedure used in cases beyond the scope of laser correction. The procedure involves the implantation of a specialized lens over the eye's natural lens.
Lens extraction refers to a similar procedure, with the only difference being that the natural lens is completely removed and replaced with an implant.

To complicate matters, some children with cerebral palsy or similar neurological disorders often require surgery to correct other eye problems such as crossed eyes or eye muscle abnormalities.

The decision to choose surgery, however, is usually a simple one for parents, said Dr. Tychsen.

“For special needs children, there is often no alternative. They cannot or will not wear glasses and are unsuitable for contacts. When contemplating what it could mean to the overall development of the child, most parents opt for surgery,” he said.

Children who undergo surgery for vision correction will typically require repeat surgery at some point, but there is no doubt that surgery can make a significant improvement in a child's overall quality of life.

To learn more about the legal rights of cerebral palsy patients, contact a cerebral palsy attorney.