Visual field defects in relation to head injury severity. A neuropsychological study
B. P. Uzzell, C. A. Dolinskas and T. W. Langfitt
Division of Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
A total of 159 head-injured patients were classified into four groups based
on two acute categories of injury severity (minor-to-moderate and severe)
and the subsequent presence or absence of visual field defects (VFDs). They
were assessed neuropsychologically within ten to 19 months after injury.
Within both minor-to-moderate and severe injury classifications, patients
with VFDs were more impaired neuropsychologically and had more frequent
acute secondary intracranial complications (brain swelling, intracranial
hypertension, and cerebral hyperemia) than patients without VFDs. The
findings suggest that the presence of VFDs during the long-term period may
be residuals of acute secondary complications indicative of increased
neuropsychological deficits after head injury.
