INCIDENCE OF CAVUM SEPTI PELLUCIDI AND CAVUM VERGAE IN 1,032 HUMAN BRAINS

Abstract

IN THE midline of the brain are two potential spaces which occasionally may dilate to an abnormal degree, simulate tumor, and produce severe neurological symptoms. They present a pathognomonic ventriculogram and are successfully treated by rupture of their membranes through a parietal trephine opening (Miller¹). The purpose of this communication is to present the results of a study of the incidence of the cavum septi pellucidi and cavum Vergae in 1,071 consecutive brains. The septum pellucidum is a thin vertical partition which rostrally separates the bodies of the lateral ventricles (Fig. 1). This somewhat triangular membrane, consisting of two glial layers, is attached anteriorly and superiorly to the corpus callosum, and inferiorly and posteriorly to the anterior commissure and anterior limbs of the fornix (Fig. 2). Occasionally the two thin plates of neural tissue are separated by a cavity of varying width, the cavum septi pellucidi, or "fifth ventricle"