AIM: To understand the common conditions of visual impairment in cerebral palsy children, and to provide the basis for early screening of eyes, early diagnosis and treatment, and promote the visual rehabilitation for children with cerebral palsy.

METHODS:Two hundred and twenty-three children with cerebral palsy underwent routine ophthalmologic examination, including the position of eye and eyeball movement, indirect ophthalmoscopy or Retcam II fundus examination, mydriasis optometry check and flash-visual evoked potential(F-VEP)examination, and the results were recorded and analyzed.

RESULTS: Strabismus,ametropia and changes of F-VEP were the mainly impairments in 223 children with cerebral palsy, and some children also were associated with ocular fundus disease. There were 174 children with different types of strabismus, including 121 children with esotropia, 36 children with exotropia, 15 children with vertical strabismus, and 2 children with nystagmus. There were 129 children(247 eyes)with refractive errors, including 118 eyes with compound hyperopic astigmatism, 51 eyes with simple hyperopia, 33 eyes with mixed astigmatism, 19 eyes with compound myopic astigmatism, 21 eyes with simple hyperopia astigmatism, 4 eyes with simple myopia astigmatism, only 1 eye with simple myopia. The F-VEP of 194 children(381 eyes)were abnormal, and performed as delayed latency and reduced amplitude of P2 wave. In addition, there were 51 children with different types of ocular fundus changes, in which optic nerve atrophy and retinal hemorrhage were the most common.

CONCLUSION: Children with cerebral palsy often are associated with different types of visual dysfunction, which seriously affect the visual quality and systemic rehabilitation. Routine eye examination and visual training should be paid attention, which play an important role in the normal development of the visual system and comprehensive rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy.