❌❌educational material❌❌ Took this picture 4 years ago during morphopathology rotation, still amazes me✴ Cyclopia is a rare form of holoprosencephaly and is a congenital disorder (birth defect) characterized by the failure of the embryonic prosencephalon to properly divide the orbits of the eye into two cavities. Its incidence is 1 in 16,000 in born animals and 1 in 200 in miscarried fetuses Genetic defects or toxins can misdirect the embryonic forebrain-dividing process.One highly teratogenic alkaloid toxin that can cause cyclopia is cyclopamine or 2-deoxyjervine, found in the plant Veratrum californicum (also known as corn lily or false hellebore). Grazing animals are most likely to ingest this plant and induce cyclopia in offspring. The mistake of humans ingesting Veratrum californicum while pregnant is often due to hellebore, an unrelated plant with the same name, being recommended as a "natural" treatment for vomiting, cramps, and poor circulation, three conditions which may be present in the early stages of pregnancy. Cyclopia occurs when certain proteins are inappropriately expressed causing the brain to stay whole, rather than developing two distinct hemispheres. This leads to the fetus having one optic lobe and one olfactory lobe, resulting in the eye and nose malformations of cyclopia @medicalcortex #medstudent #nurse #doctor #surgery #pathology #anatomy #medicine #premed #usmle #neurosurgeon #neurology #neurosurgery #tumor #skull
