Neuroradiological assessment of visuoperceptual disturbance in children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.

The intellectual status of twelve children with spina bifida and hydrocephalus was evaluated. Seven children were considered to have verbal and non-verbal skill discrepancies. It was considered that the Verbal IQ-Performance IQ score by WISC-R could be used as an index of their visuoperceptual disturbance. The disturbance was closely related to the morphological characteristics of the lateral ventricles on cerebral MRI. The ratio of the areas of the posterior horns to the anterior horns (P:A) showed a negative correlation with visuoperceptual ability. The visual pathway, visual cortex, and the ventral system were thus considered to be the sites of the affected lesions. From P:A changes with time, it was evident that adequate shunting would prevent the perceptual disturbance.