In the developing nations of Africa and Asia, blindness in young
children secondary to infections and nutritional deficiency (vitamin
A deficiency) are the most frequent causes of blindness in very
young children. In the United States, cortical visual impairment
(CVI), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), and optic nerve hypoplasia
(ONH) are the most prevalent causes.4 The most common etiologies
of CVI are perinatal hypoxia (35%), prematurity (29%),
hydrocephalus (19%), and central nervous system structural
defects (11%).5 Most children with CVI have multiple
causes. Minimal improvement in vision may occur after recognition
in infancy.5 The potential vision-threatening complications
of prenatal infections (eg, rubella, toxoplasmosis), perinatal infections
causing ophthalmia neonatorum (eg, gonorrhea, chlamydia), and postnatal
infections (eg, herpes keratitis, measles) are tragically seen too
frequently in some populations. Many of these infections are preventable
or treatable.