Visual evoked potentials in term light-for-gestational-age infants and infants of diabetic mothers

The latency and amplitude of the first negative peak of visual evoked potentials (VEP) were evaluated in 52 term infants, investigated within 48 h after birth. Sixteen were light-for-gestational-age (LGA), 16 were appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and 20 were infants of diabetic mothers (IDM). The VEP latency was shorter in LGA infants compared to AGA infants, and it was closely related to the birth weight deviation. The VEP latency was inversely related to gestational age and positively related to head circumference. When corrected for gestational age and head circumference, the VEP latency was not significantly different between the subgroups, nor related to the birth weight deviation, ponderal index or skinfold thickness. Thus, it could be argued that the high conduction velocity in LGA infants is due to stress maturation or alternatively due to the smaller head circumference. The VEP amplitude was higher in LGA infants when compared with AGA infants, and inversely related to the birth weight deviation. No differences were found in VEP latency or VEP amplitude between IDM and AGA infants.