ABSTRACT
Delayed visual maturation (DVM) is diagnosed when a child fails to show normal visual responses and the eye examination is not sufficiently abnormal to explain the poor visual responsiveness. This failure to show visual behavior is seen in the first few weeks and months of life. The etiology of DVM remains obscure. In a most recent careful follow-up study, so-called isolated DVM was associated with minor neurologic abnormalities. This association implies that there may be some underlying neurologic defect that causes DVM, but whether DVM is due to a delay in sensory development or a delay in motor fixation is unknown. Optic nerve hypoplasia, atrophy, and coloboma have all been reported in children exposed to cocaine in utero. Optic nerve hypoplasia is a condition in which the optic nerves fail to develop a normal number of axons. The most common abnormality after in utero cocaine exposure is the development of periorbital edema.
