Tumors of the Septum Pellucidum

Abstract

T U M O R S of the s e p t u m pe l luc idum are so ra re ly recognized cl inically t h a t i t is possible to find publ i shed descr ip t ions of on ly 31 cases. M o r e o v e r , mos t of these r e p o r t e d t u m o r s were e n c o u n t e r e d a t a u t o p s y and in on ly 4 ins tances was successful r emo v a l b y ope ra t i on descr ibed. F o r this reason, the ma te r i a l of a series of 5 such cases was rev iewed. F o u r of the pa t i en t s were s tud ied a t the Ill inois N e u r o s p s y c h i a t r i c I n s t i t u t e , Unive r s i t y of Ill inois, and 1 a t the U n i v e r s i t y of Chicago Clinics. A rev iew of these case repor t s indica tes t h a t the p r eo p e ra t i v e diagnosis of t u m o r s of the s e p t u m pe l luc idum is o f ten qui te difficult b u t m a y be es tabl i shed if the possibi l i ty of such a cond i t ion is en t e r t a ined . T h e impor t ance of es tabl ishing the co r rec t diagnosis is emphas i zed b y the fac t t h a t of the pa t i en t s in this series were successful ly o p e r a t e d u p o n and 1 has su rv ived 11 years in excel lent hea l th .