Вот пример:
file.csv
name,age,gender
aaa,20,m
bbb,25,
ccc,,m
ddd,40,f
readMyCSV.m
fid = fopen('file.csv','rt');
C = textscan(fid, '%s%f%s', 'Delimiter',',', 'HeaderLines',1, 'EmptyValue',NaN);
fclose(fid);
[name,age,gender] = deal(C{:});
Прочитанные данные:
>> [name num2cell(age) gender]
ans =
'aaa' [ 20] 'm'
'bbb' [ 25] ''
'ccc' [NaN] 'm'
'ddd' [ 40] 'f'