Vision Impairments from Birth Injuries

The following types of vision impairments often stem from birth injuries:

Cortical visual impairment (also known as cerebral visual impairment or CVI) and optic nerve lesions are common causes of childhood vision issues in developed countries. These conditions are often caused by complications associated with premature birth, including oxygen deprivation/birth asphyxia (1), hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), neonatal hypoglycemia, and meningitis.

Strabismus, or eye misalignment, is common in children with CVI. CVI also often co-occurs with cerebral palsy (CP) or other developmental disabilities that can be caused by birth injuries (3).

If maternal infections are not promptly diagnosed and managed, they can spread to the infant. This typically occurs during the process of birth, once the baby leaves the protection of the amniotic sac and comes into contact with the birth canal (4). If an infant’s eyes become infected in the birth canal, they may develop a condition called ophthalmia neonatorum (neonatal conjunctivitis).

Ophthalmia neonatorum can easily be prevented if medical professionals do proper testing for sexually transmitted infections during pregnancy and provide the necessary treatments. Doctors should also clean infants’ eyes immediately after birth with a topical antibiotic or antiseptic (1). If not properly treated, this condition can cause permanent visual impairments/blindness.

If an infant shows signs of ophthalmia neonatorum, physicians should run tests to figure out the underlying cause of this infection (such as gonorrhea or chlamydia) (5). They should also determine whether the infection has spread to other parts of the body, such as the lungs (pneumonia) (1).

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) causes 60% of all cases of blindness in middle-income countries, and up to 15% in developed countries (1). Infants who are premature or have very low birth weights are at higher risk for this condition (1, 6). If doctors fail to do all they can to prevent premature birth , and this causes ROP, it constitutes malpractice.

ROP can also be caused by exposure to oxygen. Oxygen can be a lifesaving treatment for newborns with respiratory issues and other conditions, but it can lead to retinopathy of prematurity and subsequent blindness if it is not carefully controlled (1). Over the years, research has indicated that reducing the level of oxygen provided to premature babies can help to prevent ROP.

Infants with mild cases of ROP may recover without medical treatment. However, in more severe cases, ROP can lead to vision impairments (such as retinal detachment, myopia, strabismus, amblyopia, and glaucoma) or blindness. In the United States, about 400 to 600 infants become blind from ROP each year (6).