Papilloedema. Credit: International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

A study of 170 Dutch youths aged 0-18 years with newly diagnosed brain tumour revealed abnormal ophthalmological findings in 78.8%, while 65.2% without visual symptoms at diagnosis had ophthalmological abnormalities on examination.

Dr Myrthe Nuijts and colleagues from University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands, performed orthoptic evaluation, visual acuity testing, visual field examination and ophthalmoscopy, within four weeks of subjects’ diagnosis. The most common findings were papilloedema in 52.4%, gaze deficits in 33.5% and visual-field defects in 28.1%.

Researchers concluded the prevalence of ophthalmological findings, regardless of visual symptoms, support the need to boost awareness among medical professionals for such abnormalities in this patient group.