Parent-reported outcomes after cerebral hemispherectomy
Reviewed by Lauren Hepworth

The authors present the findings of a survey circulated by the Childhood Epilepsy Surgery Foundation to its members. Parents of children who had undergone a cerebral hemispherectomy were invited to participate. A total of 48 responses from 248 who were sent the survey responded, the authors report this to be the largest cohort five-year follow-up of hemispherectomy patients. A large proportion of respondents reported the presence of visual field defects and / or strabismus, with over 50% noting the occurrence of subjective improvement and / or compensatory mechanisms. The authors acknowledge the limitations of using a survey as a data collection method rather direct ophthalmic testing. This study was able to identify improvements over time and highlights the need for future research into both vision and cognitive therapy for this population as well as a prospective longitudinal clinical study.

Long-term patient-reported outcomes of visual field defects and compensatory mechanisms in patients after cerebral hemispherectomy.
Meer EA, Chen MF, Jones M, et al.
JOURNAL OF NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY
2021;41:147-53.