The occurrence of ocular and visual dysfunctions in an acquired brain-injured patient sample.

BACKGROUND: Acquired brain injury (ABI) is a general term referring to brain injury occurring secondary to trauma, stroke, or post-surgical complications. This paper reports on the occurrence of various ocular and visual conditions in an ABI patient sample.

METHODS: The subjects for this study were 62 brain-injured adults who resided in two extended care facilities in the New York area. Subjects ranged from 19 to 70 years of age. The standard protocol for the visual evaluation incorporated a patient interview; cover test; refraction; and assessment of visual acuity, ocular motility, accommodation, binocularity, visual fields, color vision, contrast sensitivity, pupils, and anterior and posterior segments.

RESULTS: Results were reported as a ratio comparing the occurrence of a condition in our ABI sample relative to that in a reference normal population (where normative data are available) and as a comparison to other published data on ABI samples. An increased occurrence of exo deviations, oculomotor dysfunctions, and vertical deviations was evident. An elevated occurrence of dry eye, blepharitis, optic nerve pathologies, and visual field deficits was also manifest.

CONCLUSION: Our patient sample demonstrates that certain ocular and visual conditions occur more frequently among ABI patients in comparison to a random, adult population.