Investigation of visiospatial disturbance after acute encephalopathy

We investigated the visiospatial disturbance in 103 children with acute encephalopathy at more than one year from the onset.The patients were divided into two groups:group (1) with visiospacial disturbance (43 cases), group (2) without (60 cases). We checked the etiology, consciousness loss, complications and disabilities including higher cortical dysfunction in their medical charts.The average age of onset was 3 years 5 months in group (1), and that 2 years 8 months in group (2). Regarding the etiology, influenza infection, was most common (36 cases), and there was no statistical difference between two groups. The duration of consciousness loss was 10.8 days in group (1) and 7.7 days in group (2). The abnormal region on MRI brain and single photon emission computed tomography was mainly the occipital area in group (1) and the frontal area in group (2). Prominent complicating disabilities comprised higher cortical dysfunction, such as visiospatial disturbance in group (1) and interpersonal skill disturbance in group (2). The symptoms of visiospatial disturbance were difficulty in searching, writing, recognizing bumps, etc. After proper evaluation and rehabilitation programs, continuous performance of the programs was necessary in daily living.It is important for children with acute encephalopathy to be checked for visiospatial disturbance. An early rehabiitation approach should be taken for children with visiospatial disturbance.