Delayed visual maturation. A longitudinal clinical and electrophysiological assessment.

Delayed visual maturation is an idiopathic condition characterized by visual inattention during infancy. The authors followed longitudinally nine children with an initial diagnosis of delayed visual maturation and compared their electroretinograms (ERGs) and visual evoked potentials with those of age-matched controls. Eight of the nine patients consistently had normal visual evoked potentials to flash and to pattern stimulation. All of the children had normal ERGs. Visually mediated behavior gradually developed in all of these children when they were between 3 and 8 months of age (mean, 5.5 months). Five patients also were delayed in other spheres of development. Visual evoked potentials are helpful in formulating a visual prognosis for children with delayed visual maturation.