MRI study of the cavum septum pellucidum in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The cavum septum pellucidum (CSP), a putative marker of neurodevelopmental anomaly, has been associated with an increased risk of several psychiatric disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the CSP in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compared with healthy control subjects. Seventy-one patients with OCD and 71 healthy volunteers matched for age and sex were evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging. We evaluated the CSP using criteria employed in previous studies: presence of the CSP, length of the CSP, and overall size of the CSP, measured in five grades, ranging from grades 0 (no CSP) to 4 (severe CSP). We evaluated OCD symptom severity using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). The CSP presence was significantly greater in the OCD group (60.6%) than in control subjects (29.6%), and CSP size grade was significantly larger in the OCD group (chi(2) = 15.609, P = 0.004). CSP length showed no significant group difference. Among patients with OCD, those with a CSP had higher scores on the obsession subscale of the Y-BOCS than those without a CSP (Z = -2.358, P = 0.018), while they did not show significant difference from those without a CSP in the compulsion subscale of the Y-BOCS, age, duration of illness, or age at onset. These results indicate that neurodevelopmental alterations in midline structures might contribute to the pathogenesis of OCD.
Chon
Myong-Wuk
MW
Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Chongno-gu, Seoul, 110-744, Korea.
Choi
Jung-Seok
JS
Kang
Do-Hyung
DH
Jung
Myung Hun
MH
Kwon
Jun Soo
JS
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012688:Septum Pellucidum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult
D005473:Fluoxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors