Abstract

The term "cyclos" designates a congenital anomaly of a bilateral symmetrical malformation of the head in which there is absent or poorly developed median structures. However, it would be more inclusively defined that anomaly in which the eyes are closely adjacent as to lie within single orbit. The cyclopic monster presented here was still-born from a 28 year-old woman. The baby was delivered in 33 weeks of gestation and the mother had a history of ingestion of diagestive drugs during pregnancy. The baby presented the malformation of the head consisting of single orbital cavity in the midline containing one eyeball with two fused corneas and one pupil, no nose nor oral cavity, but synotia. The skull showed a single flattened anterior cranial fossa, absence of crista galli and narrow sella turcica. The brain presented the great degree of malformation in the anterior telencephalon, which failed to divide into two hemispheres and was only composed of horseshoe-shaped or inverted mushroom-like structure. The third ventricle was greatly dilated and it's roof was bollooned out to form a cyst filling the greater part of the cranial cavity. The diencephalon was noted as unpaired protuberence in the floor of malformed forebrain. The pons, medulla and cerebellar hemisphere were well developed. Olfactory bulbes and tracts and left optic nerve were absent.