Background: Symptomatic cysts of the septum pellucidum (CSP) are extremely rare in children and surgical indications are not well defined. A very careful clinical and neuroradiologic evaluation is necessary to consider a patient for surgical indication.
Methods: We present a surgical series of 7 pediatric patients. Clinical and radiological features of the patients, including clinical presentation, previous treatment, pre, and post-operative MRI, immediate postoperative, neuropsychiatric assessment, and outcomes were reviewed.
Results: There were 5 males and 2 females (mean age 8 yrs). Five patients presented a history of severe intermittent headaches, two of them were admitted with acute symptoms of raised intracranial pressure. One patient presented Epilepsy and ADHD and one patient had severe psychosis. Overall, psychiatric disorders were diagnosed in six patients, three patients had Intellectual Disability (ID). In all cases, the cyst presented a ballooning feature, with a mean volume of 18,36 cm3 (range 10,62-28,5) and significant lateral bulging of both layers. All were operated on endoscopically without complications. After surgery, a very significant decrease in cyst volume was observed (mean volume 5,68 cm3; range 3,18-10,1) with complete disappearance of the ballooning aspect. Headaches resolved in all patients. In two patients operated in emergency papilloedema and vision improved in the first week after surgery. No recurrence of the cysts was noted during follow-up in all patients.
Conclusions: CSP may be associated with behavioral or psychiatric problems also in children. Neuroendoscopic surgery is a safe and effective therapeutic modality to treat CSP presenting with symptoms and signs of intracranial hypertension with good clinical results.
Keywords: Cysts of the septum pellucidum; Hydrocephalus; Neuroendoscopy; Neuronavigation; Septostomy.
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