Talk:Paper - A case of foetus with one eye (cyclops) (1939)

Anatomical Notes 499

A CASE OF FOETUS WITH ONE EYE (CYCLOPS)

By Pror. M. N. DE, M.B., M.R.C.P. (Lonpon) ano H. K. DUTTA, MB.

From the Department of Pathology, Medical College, Calcutta

Fig. 1.

Ir is not uncommon to find imperfections in the development of the face due to imperfect closure of the embryonal clefts, but the fusion of the eyes in the middle line with a rudimentary nose in the forehead above the eye is an anomaly of an extreme degree.

A nearly full-term female foetus, 14 in. in length, shows only one eye situated in the centre of the face. The eyelids do not completely cover the eye, with the result that the greater portion of the bulbar conjunctiva is exposed. The eyebrow is not developed nor is there any evidence of a rudimentary eye-socket on either side of the face. 500 Anatomical Notes

The shape, size and position of the nose are all abnormal. It is situated in the middle line just: above the eye and is a fleshy, tubular outgrowth, about 2 in. in length and 4 in. in diameter with a transversely placed slit in the centre. On microscopic examination all the histological structures of the nose could be found.

The mouth is well formed and the space between the eye and the upper lip which is occupied by the nose in the normal foetus is represented by a broad furrow. The lips and the ears are normal in shape and position.

Inside the skull, some abnormalities could be seen in the development of the first two cranial nerves and the body of the sphenoid bone. Between the two anterior clinoid processes the bone forms a crest and there is no optic groove or pituitary fossa. The olfactory tracts, bulbs and nerves are absent. The two optic nerves emerge from the right and left aspects of the eyeball, pass through the optic foramina, and without crossing or forming a chiasma each continues on its own side.