Authors : Narendra Kumar Das, Matuli Das
DOI : 10.18231/j.ijceo.2020.026
Volume : 6
Issue : 1
Year : 2020
Page No : 117-122
Introduction: Mild traumatic brain injury can trigger long term visual dysfunction in the form of visual
field defects which can disrupt the normal lifestyle of any individual and other rehabilitation efforts
resulting in social and professional distress. Post traumatic amnesia is one of the predictors of severity
in mTBI.
The purpose of this study was two fold (i)To find out the association between post traumatic amnesia and
visual field defects following mild traumatic brain injury. (ii) The implication of post traumatic amnesia on
the development and recovery of visual field defects post mTBI.
Methods and Materials: Hospital based prospective, analytical, observational study. A total of 260
patients with the diagnosis of mTBI were studied. Diagnosis of mTBI was based on the WHO Operational
criteria for clinical identification of mTBI.
Visual field index (VFI) was taken to estimate the extent of visual field damage because it is a global index
which expresses the amount of visual field loss as a percentage relative to the sensitivity of a reference
group of healthy observers.
The Galveston orientation and amnesia test (GOAT) was applied to assess post traumatic amnesia. The
study period was from July 2017 to March 2019. Each patient with mTBI was examined for Visual field
defects at 1 month, 6 months and 1 year post injury.
Results: The main observation of this study were (i) It is important to look for visual field defects even
in mild traumatic brain injury for atleast 6 months post injury because during this period the appearance
of visual field defect peaked. (ii) There is a strong possibility of developing visual field defects among
the group of patients who presented with the history of post traumatic amnesia following mild traumatic
brain injury (P=0.0001) (iii) If a patient with mild traumatic brain injury suffers from visual field defects,
possibility of his/her symptoms persisting beyond 12 months increases significantly if there is history of
post traumatic amnesia (P=0.0001).
Conclusion: Mild traumatic brain injury can trigger long term visual dysfunction in the form of Visual
field defects. Our results will help in providing information regarding development, progress and outcome
of visual field defects following mild traumatic brain injury.
Keywords: Mild traumatic brain injury, Post traumatic amnesia, Quality of life, Visual Field Defects, Visual field index.