The septum pellucidum and its variants. An MRI study.

Purpose: Increased prevalence of cavum septi pellucidi (CSP) in schizophrenic patients in comparison to healthy subjects was reported previously. Our purpose was to evaluate the prevalence of variants of the septum pellucidum in healthy subjects in three different age groups.

Methods: 151 healthy subjects, including 46 children (age 6 +/- 4 years), 72 young adults (age 31 +/- 8 years) and 33 elderly adults (age 59 +/- 7 years) were examined with high-resolution MRI. Three observers analysed the images using a standardised protocol. We evaluated the incidences of CSP, cavum vergae (CV) and their length.

Results: CSP was detected in 80% of the cases in the paediatric group and 68% of young adults and in 72% of the elderly adults. A cavum vergae (CV) was noted in 22% of the children, in 39% of the young adults and in 36% of the elderly subjects. There was no significant difference between the age-related groups.

Conclusion: We detected a high prevalence of cavum septi pellucidi without a significant age dependence. Enlarged cava septi pellucidi are rare in healthy subjects.