Aim: To describe visual potential, etiologies, and 
associated ocular and neurological deficits in children 
with Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) in suburban area 
in Malaysia, and to discuss the clinical profiles in relation 
to available published reports. 
Materials: A retrospective study involving 31 children 
with CVI aged less than 17 years old was conducted at 
Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia 
between January 2003 and December 2013. Demographic 
data and clinical profiles were reviewed. 
Results: Both genders were affected equally. The 
majority of the children were categorized as blind at 
presentation. Five patients (16.1%) showed improvement 
of one to two lines on a Snellen visual acuity chart at one
year follow up, of which two had refractive errors and 
three had optic neuropathy. The most common etiology 
was perinatal asphyxia (58.1%). Optic disc atrophy 
(51.6%), global developmental delay (87.1%) and 
seizures (77.4%) were the most common ocular and 
neurological deficits observed. 
Conclusion: The clinical profile of Malaysian children 
with CVI is fairly similar to published studies from the 
United States, Canada and New Zealand. Perinatal 
asphyxia was the most common etiology, but was two 
times higher than documented data from developed 
countries. This suggests a strong need for global 
improvement of the perinatal strategies in our policy. Rehabilitation programs are another issue that merits 
attention. More data from developing countries will be 
helpful for a better global approach.