RESUMO
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.