Biomedical subjects

A Morante

Publications and source records attributed to A Morante.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1983

The maturation of visual acuity in neurologically normal and abnormal newborn infants.

The maturation of visual acuity was studied in 162 neurologically normal and 96 neurologically abnormal newborn infants. Ninety-five percent of the neurologically normal infants developed an acuity of 80 min arc by 35 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) but only 50% developed an acuity of 40 min arc by 40 weeks PMA. Neurologically abnormal infants, and in particular those with periventricular haemorrhage (PVH), had a delay in the development of acuity. There was a close correlation between the development of 80 min arc acuity and the appearance of the first positivity of the flash visually evoked potential (VEP).

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

PubMed1982

The development of visual function in normal and neurologically abnormal preterm and fullterm infants.

Pattern preference for four different pairs of patterns, and visual acuity based on the ability to distinguish black and white stripes of different widths, were compared in neurologically normal and abnormal preterm infants at 36 and 40 weeks postmenstrual age and in normal and abnormal fullterm infants in the newborn period and again at four and six weeks of age. The study aimed to chart the maturation process of these visual functions in the neonatal period and to assess their predictive value in the neurologically abnormal infant. Part I of the study deals with the normal infant and Part II with the abnormal infant. In Part I, the maturation process for both visual functions in newborn preterm infants of increasing gestational age is compared with longitudinal assessment of postnatal maturation of these functions in preterm infants up to 40 weeks postmenstrual age. Up to 36 weeks postmenstrual age the functions were comparable in the maturing preterm infants and the newborn infants of comparable postmenstrual age, but at 40 weeks the preterm infants did less well than the fullterm newborn infants. In Part II, the abnormal fullterm infants demonstrated a significantly poorer pattern preference at the initial and subsequent examination. Visual acuity was significantly poorer at the initial examination but less marked at follow-up. The abnormal preterm infants showed poorer pattern preference and visual acuity at both 36 and 40 weeks postmenstrual age. Compared with neurologically abnormal infants without intraventricular haemorrhage (IVH), preterm infants with IVH showed no significant difference in pattern preference at 36 and 40 weeks, but a significant deficit in visual acuity.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

PubMed1981

Neurologic signs in neonatal intraventricular hemorrhage: a correlation with real-time ultrasound.

A comprehensive neurologic assessment was applied sequentially in 100 consecutive unselected newborn infants in our neonatal unit in parallel with independent sequential real-time ultrasonic examination of the head. The results were analyzed in three separate gestational groups: Group I, 31 weeks and below (n = 29); Group II, 32 to 35 weeks (n = 39); Group III, 36 weeks and above (n = 25). In the remaining seven infants the ultrasonic examination was technically unsatisfactory. Deviant neurologic signs were correlated in each group with the presence of intraventricular hemorrhage recognized by ultrasound. Impaired visual tracking, an abnormal popliteal angle, and the later development of roving eye movements correlated strongly with the presence of IVH in Groups I and II. Decrease in tone and poor motility correlated with IVH in Group II infants only. In Group III the number of cases with IVH was small and none of the clinical signs reached statistical significance. The results suggest that our system of careful sequential neurologic examination in the newborn period is a sensitive means of detecting the development of intraventricular hemorrhage in the majority of immature infants, and of following its progress and resolution.

Cerebral Hemorrhage↗

PubMed1980

Visual function in the newborn: a study of preterm and full-term infants.

Visual function has been studied in the preterm newborn infant by the visual orientation (tracking) technique of the Brazelton neurobehavioral assessment, and the pattern preference and fixation technique of Fantz. By both these methods we have been able to document the presence of discriminative visual function by 31-32 weeks gestation, and by 34 weeks the pattern reaches a maturity comparable to the full-term infant. Sequential studies at weekly intervals of preterm infants ranging in gestation from 28-32 weeks showed a similar pattern of development of visual function to the newborn infant of equivalent postconceptional age. Comparative studies of the two methods of assessment of visual function in the same infants have shown surprisingly little correlation. Assessment of visual function in the preterm newborn infant is a valuable milestone and, as in the case of other developmental milestones, aberrations may reflect a deficit in visual function itself, or a more broad based deficit in neurological function or a secondary response to a generalized illness in the newborn infant.

Choice Behavior↗

PubMed1980

Visual function in the preterm and fullterm newborn infant.

Visual function in the preterm newborn infant has been studied by the visual orientation (tracking) technique of the Brazelton neurobehavioural assessment, and by the pattern preference and fixation techniques of Frantz. Both these methods demonstrated the presence of discriminative visual function by 31 to 32 weeks gestation, which by 34 weeks reaches a maturity comparable to the pattern found in fullterm infants. Sequential studies at weekly intervals of preterm infants, ranging in gestation from 28 to 32 weeks, have shown a similar pattern of development of visual function to that of the newborn infant of equivalent postconceptional age. However, comparative studies of visual orientation and pattern preference in the same infants have not shown a close correlation. The assessment of visual function in the preterm newborn infant is a valuable milestone. Aberrations may reflect a dificit in visual function itself, a more broad-based deficit in neurological function, or possibly a response to a generalised illness.

Choice Behavior↗