Cavum Septum Pellucidum and Its Increased Prevalence in Schizophrenia: A Neuroembryological Classification

Abstract

Thirty-two female (mean age=52.9 years [SD=9.2]) patients with a diagnosis of residual schizophrenia and 19 female (mean age=51.1 years [SD=12.7]) control subjects were studied through cerebral Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Along the entire surface of the septum pellucidum, 1-mm coronal slices were performed in all subjects. The authors classified the cavum septum pellucidum into three types based on embryological development. The prevalence of a cavum was significantly higher in the patients with schizophrenia (Chi square 6.112. p < 0.05). No other significant associations with previously described morphological brain changes were found. Although this result was found in previous reports (DeGreef et al., 1992; DeLisi et al., 1993), our discussion focused on the neurodevelopmental theory of the septum pellucidum and its possible association with schizophrenia.

Clinical correlates of enlarged cavum septum pellucidum in schizophrenia: A revisit through computed tomography

“…It is suggested that CSP, particularly if it is large, should be considered a developmental anomaly that may contribute to neuropsychiatric abnormalities (Sarwar, 1989;Nopoulos et al, 1997). Several studies have documented that patients with schizophrenia have an increased rate of enlarged cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) compared to healthy control groups (DeGreef et al, 1992a;DeLisi et al, 1993;Jurjus et al, 1993;Scott et al, 1993;Nopoulos et al, 1996;Galarza et al, 2004;Filipovic et al, 2005) while this was not replicated in a recent study (Rajarethinam et al, 2007). Earlier and recent studies have attempted to examine relationships between CSP measures and clinical and demographic variables (Jurjus et al, 1993;Mathew et al, 1985;Shioiri et al, 1996), symptoms (Mathew et al, 1985;Nopoulos et al, 2000), duration of illness (Fukuzako et al, 1996;Mathew et al, 1985), family history of illness (Uematsu and Kaiya, 1989), intellectual functioning (Nopoulos et al, 2000).…”

“…Earlier and recent studies have attempted to examine relationships between CSP measures and clinical and demographic variables (Jurjus et al, 1993;Mathew et al, 1985;Shioiri et al, 1996), symptoms (Mathew et al, 1985;Nopoulos et al, 2000), duration of illness (Fukuzako et al, 1996;Mathew et al, 1985), family history of illness (Uematsu and Kaiya, 1989), intellectual functioning (Nopoulos et al, 2000). While some studies have not documented any relationships between these variables and presence of CSP (DeLisi et al, 1993;Galarza et al, 2004;Jurjus et al, 1993;Rajarethinam et al, 2001;Shioiri et al, 1996), few have found intriguing evidence. Uematsu and Kaiya (1989) reported that CSP was significantly related to family history of schizophrenia while Nopoulos et al (2000) reported a significant inverse relationship between size of CSP and IQ scores.…”

MRI abnormalities of the hippocampus and cavum septi pellucidi in females with schizotypal personality disorder

“…Abnormalities of hippocampal development may also have the secondary effect of lessening the degree of fusion of the two leaflets of the septum pellucidum, which separates the two lateral ventricles (Galarza et al, 2004). During normal development the growth of hippocampus and corpus callosum exert pressure on the two leaflets, facilitating fusion.…”

“…Although a persistently large CSP can be normal (10.3%in (Kwon et al, 1998)), it is generally associated with a range of neuropsychiatric, anatomic, and genetic abnormalities (Serhatlioglu et al, 2003), including schizophrenia (0.15-58.8%) (Kwon et al, 1998;Nopoulos et al, 1997). Even within schizophrenics, however, the increased presence of CSP could be secondary to other developmental defects in other regions, including corpus callosum (Galarza et al, 2004).…”

Classification of Phenotype Characteristics in Adult-Onset Spinal Muscular Atrophy

“…Neuroimaging examinations demonstrated cavum septum pellucidum in 3 patients (14%). The incidence of cavum septum pellucidum among healthy populations varies greatly, and its functional impact, if any, still remains obscure [25] so that any conclusions from this descriptive finding do not seem to be justified yet.…”