ObjectiveTo evaluate the differences of visual evoked potentials (amplitudes and latency) between cerebral palsy (CP) children and normal children. MethodsThis study involved fourteen children aged from 4 to 7 years with CP (monoplegia) between 2009 and 2013. Another 14 normal children aged from 5 to 9 years treated in the Department of Ophthalmology in West China Hospital during the same period were regarded as the control group. Both eyes of all the participants were examined by multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP). The mfVEP examination results were recorded, and amplitude and latency were analyzed. First, we analyzed the differences of amplitudes and latency time between monoplegia children and children in the control group. Second, gross motor function classification system (GMFCS) was used to classify the fourteen monoplegia children among whom there were five GMFCS Ⅰ patients and nine GMFCS Ⅱ patients. The differences of mfVEP were analyzed between the two GMFCS groups. ResultsThe amplitude and latency of mfVEP in children with CP showed gradual changes similar to those in the normal children. The amplitudes were decreasing and the latencies were delaying from the first eccentricity to the sixth eccentricity. The amplitudes in children with CP were lower than those in the control group in the first to the third eccentricities for both eyes (P＜0.05), and latency of left eye was delayed in the first eccentricity in children with CP (P=0.045). No difference was found between the two GMFCS groups (P>0.05) except the amplitude of the first eccentricity (P=0.043). ConclusionsThe results of mfVEP show significant differences of amplitude and latency between CP and normal children, suggesting the existence of visual pathway impairments in cerebral palsy children. The results of mfVEP can provide an objective basis of visual impairments for cerebral palsy children.