Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To study the prevalence of cavum septum pellucidum (CSP), a midline developmental anomaly, in patients with schizophrenia.
METHODS
Three-millimeter coronal T1 weighted MRI images of 43 normal controls and 73 patients with schizophrenia were examined. The images were resampled into 1-mm slices and CSP was measured by the number of slices in which it appeared.
RESULTS
Patients had significantly higher incidence of CSP (Fisher's exact test 0.042; one-sided). Eighteen (41.9%) of the controls and 44 (60.3%) of patients had a CSP, and one of 46 controls and three of 73 patients had a large CSP of six slices or more. There was no relationship between the presence or size of CSP and regional brain volumes or volumes of hippocampus-amygdala complex, caudate, superior temporal gyrus or ventricular CSF.
CONCLUSION
Higher incidence of CSP may reflect a neurodevelopmental disturbance in schizophrenia.
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