Evoked potential and preferential looking estimates of visual acuity in pediatric patients.

Pattern visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and behavioral visual acuity measured with forced-choice preferential looking techniques (FPL) were obtained from 172 pediatric patients between the ages of 4 months and 10 years. More children younger than 2 years of age successfully completed monocular testing by pattern VEP than by FPL methods. For children older than 2 years, we were equally successful in completing each of the two tests. Of those children who completed both tests, the VEP results agreed with Snellen, Allen, and "E" acuity measures more often (66%) than did the FPL results (50%). Both tests were more sensitive than Allen single characters in detecting interocular acuity differences in children younger than 3 years of age.