Long-term visual and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with Congenital Zika Syndrome after undergoing strabismus surgery

Abstract

Purpose: To assess long-term visual and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with congenital Zika syndrome (CZS) after strabismus surgery. Methods: A consecutive sample of five children with CZS who underwent strabismus surgery was enrolled. All children underwent a standardized pre- and postoperative protocol including binocular best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) using the Teller Acuity Cards II (TAC II), ocular alignment, functional vision using the functional vision developmental milestones test (FVDMT), and neurodevelopmental milestone evaluation using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Third Edition (BSID-III). Scores of the FVDMT outcomes considering the child's developmental age based on the BSID-III score were compared with scores from postoperative assessment. Results: Five children with CZS (3 girls, 2 boys) were enrolled with a mean age at baseline (preoperative) of 35.0 ± 0.7 months (range, 34-36 months) and at final assessment of 64.4 ± 0.5 months (range, 64-65 months). Preoperative BCVA was 1.2 ± 0.5 logMAR and at final assessment 0.7 ± 0.1 logMAR. Successful strabismus surgery outcome was maintained in 4/5 (80.0%) of children at final assessment. The children's BSID-III scores showed significant neurodevelopment delay at the initial assessment (corresponding developmental mean age was 4.7 months) and at their final assessment (corresponding developmental mean age was 5.1 months). There was improvement or stability in 34/46 items evaluated in the FVDMT (73.9%) when comparing baseline with 2-year follow-up. Conclusions: Strabismus surgery resulted in long-term ocular alignment in the majority of children with CZS. All the children showed improvement or stability in more than 70.0% of the functional vision items assessed. Visual and neurodevelopmental dysfunction may be related to complex condition and associated disorders seen in CZS including ocular, neurological, and skeletal abnormalities.

Keywords: Cerebral visual impairment; congenital Zika syndrome; neurodevelopment; strabismus; surgery; visual outcome.

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