{{Short description|Extreme form of holoprosencephaly}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}{{about|the congenital disorder}} {{Infobox medical condition (new) | name = Cyclopia | synonyms = Cyclocephaly, synophthalmia, monophthalmia | image = Cyclopia fetuses.jpg | caption = Fetuses with cyclopia | pronounce = | field = Medical genetics | symptoms = | complications = | onset = During embryonic development | duration = Lifelong | types = | causes = | risks = | diagnosis = | differential = | prevention = | treatment = | medication = | prognosis = Invariably fatal | frequency = 1 in 100,000 births | deaths = }} '''Cyclopia''' (named after the Greek mythological characters cyclopes), also known as '''alobar holoprosencephaly''', is the most extreme 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.<ref>''Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary'', {{ISBN|0-8036-0654-0}}</ref><ref>Leroi, Armand Marie ''Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body'', p.73. {{ISBN|978-0142004821}}</ref>
== Signs and symptoms == Typically, the nose is either missing or not functional. This deformity (called proboscis) forms above the center eye and is characteristic of a form of cyclopia called rhinencephaly or rhinocephaly.<ref>Dark, Graham (2007). [http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?rhinocephaly Rhinocephaly]. In [http://cancerweb.ncl.ac.uk/cgi-bin/omd?query=&action=Home ''Online Medical Dictionary'']. Retrieved July 23, 2008.</ref> Most such embryos are either naturally miscarried or stillborn upon delivery.{{cn|date=November 2025}}
Although cyclopia is rare, several cyclopic human babies are preserved in medical museums (e.g. The Vrolik Museum, Amsterdam, Trivandrum Medical College).<ref>{{cite web |title=Vrolik Museum, Department of Anatomy And Embryology, University of Amsterdam |url=http://www.amc.uva.nl/index.cfm?pid=2668 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208132537/http://www.amc.uva.nl/index.cfm?pid=2668 |archive-date=2007-12-08}}</ref>
Some extreme cases of cyclopia have been documented in farm animals (horses, sheep, pigs, goats, and sometimes chickens). In such cases, the nose and mouth fail to form, or the nose grows from the roof of the mouth, obstructing airflow and resulting in suffocation shortly after birth.<ref name="freakyface">{{cite web |year=2007 |title=Feline Medical Curiosities: Facial Deformities |url=http://www.messybeast.com/freak-face.htm |access-date=2008-11-29 |publisher=Messybeast.com}}</ref>
== Causes == Genetic defects or toxins can misdirect the embryonic forebrain-dividing process.<ref name="medterms">{{cite web |title=Cyclopia definition |url=http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15530 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102213304/http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=15530 |archive-date=2013-11-02 |access-date=2008-11-29 |work=Medical Dictionary |publisher=MedTerms}}</ref> 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. People sometimes accidentally ingest false hellebore while pregnant thinking it is hellebore, which has been suggested as a "natural" treatment for vomiting, cramps, and poor circulation – three conditions which may be present in the early stages of pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Teratology Society |url=http://www.teratology.org/members/JMFpresentation/tsld011.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218093222/http://www.teratology.org/members/JMFpresentation/tsld011.htm |archive-date=2007-12-18 |access-date=2007-09-24}}</ref> Cyclopia occurs when certain proteins are inappropriately expressed,<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Erich Roessler |author2=Elena Belloni |author3=Karin Gaudenz |author4=Fernando Vargas |author5=Stephen W. Scherer |author6=Lap-Chee Tsui |author7=Maximilian Muenke |name-list-style=amp |year=1997 |title=Mutations in the C-terminal domain of Sonic Hedgehog cause holoprosencephaly |journal=Human Molecular Genetics |volume=6 |issue=11 |pages=1847–1853 |doi=10.1093/hmg/6.11.1847 |pmid=9302262 |doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chin Chiang |author2=Ying Litingtung |author3=Eric Lee |author4=Keith E. Young |author5=Jeffrey L Corden |author6=Heiner Westphal |author7=Philip A. Beachy |year=1996 |title=Cyclopia and defective axial patterning in mice lacking Sonic hedgehog gene function |journal=Nature |volume=383 |issue=6599 |pages=407–413 |bibcode=1996Natur.383..407C |doi=10.1038/383407a0 |pmid=8837770 |s2cid=4339131}}</ref>
The Sonic hedgehog protein (SHH) is the gene regulator involved in the separation of the single eye field into two bilateral fields.<ref>{{cite book |last=Carlson |first=Bruce |title=Human Embryology and Developmental Biology |publisher=Elsevier |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4557-2794-0 |edition=5th |page=309}}</ref> Although not proven, it is thought that SHH emitted from the prechordal plate suppresses Pax6, which causes the eye field to divide into two. If the SHH gene is mutated, the result is cyclopia, a single eye in the center of the face (Gilbert, 2000).
== Notable cases == * A British description from 1665 of a colt that appeared to have cyclopia reads:{{Blockquote|text=''First'', That it had no sign of any ''Nose'' in the usual place, nor had it any, in any other place of the Head, unless the double Bagg CC that grew out of the midst of the forehead, were some rudiment of it. ''Next'', That the ''two Eyes'' were united into one ''Double Eye'' which was placed just in the middle of the Brow.<ref>{{cite journal |date=3 July 1665 |title=Observables upon a Monstrous Head |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society |volume=1 |issue=5 |pages=85–86 |bibcode=1665RSPT....1...85. |doi=10.1098/rstl.1665.0037 |jstor=101436 |s2cid=186213738}}{{gutenberg|28758 |Volume 1 – 1666}}</ref>}} * In October 1766, an infant in France was born with cyclopia, living for only a few hours. Reports of the case were made in the ''Mercure de France'' and an illustration of the infant was made by Marie Bihéron. The case was also mentioned in Volume IV of Buffon's ''L'Histoire Naturelle''. thumb|A Swedish description from 1793 of a newborn with cyclopia * On 1 March 1793, a 46-year-old woman in Boalts Torp, Glimåkra, Sweden gave birth to a child with cyclopia that died after two hours. The child was 35 cm long, its face without nose and nostrils, and its lidless eye with no eyebrow sat raised on the middle of its forehead like a large blueberry. The wrists were somewhat crooked as well as the right foot which was completely crooked and bent inwards. It was not clear whether they were a boy or a girl, but they were believed to be the former.<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Kyrkbok |year=1793 |series=1752–1800 |volume=CI:3 |location=Glimåkra |pages=174–175 |language=sv |trans-title=Parish Register |chapter=Födde |trans-chapter=Birth}}</ref> * In November 1889, reports emerged from Umatilla County, Oregon, of a Nez Perce child with one eye in the center of the forehead. The child was reportedly healthy and "able to see with ease, and ran about with as much freedom as any of his companions."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1889-11-22 |title=The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, November 22, 1889, Image 3 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022644/1889-11-22/ed-1/seq-3/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |issn=2470-9085}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1889-11-22 |title=The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, November 22, 1889, Image 4 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84022650/1889-11-22/ed-1/seq-4/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |issn=2472-4416}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1889-11-26 |title=The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, November 26, 1889, Morning, Image 8 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84036012/1889-11-26/ed-1/seq-8/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |pages=8 |issn=2163-4483}}</ref> Several individuals tried to locate the child to be put on display, but the tribe had left to hunt in the mountains by the time they arrived.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1889-11-28 |title=The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, November 28, 1889, Image 1 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88085523/1889-11-28/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=2023-04-30 |issn=2158-4745}}</ref> It is unknown what became of the child. * On December 28, 2005, a kitten with cyclopia, "Cy", was born in Redmond, Oregon, United States and died about one day after birth.<ref name="cy">{{cite web |last=Petty |first=Terrence |date=January 11, 2006 |title=Not a Hoax, One-Eyed Kitten Had Bizarre Condition |url=http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060111_ap_cyclops_cat.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060203010920/http://www.livescience.com/animalworld/060111_ap_cyclops_cat.html |archive-date=2006-02-03 |access-date=2014-03-07 |work=Animaldomain |publisher=LiveScience.com}}</ref> * In 2006, a baby girl with cyclopia was born in Chennai, India. Her only eye was in the center of her forehead. She did not have a nose and her brain did not separate into two separate hemispheres (holoprosencephaly).<ref>{{cite web |last=Carney |first=Scott |date=August 10, 2006 |title=Cancer Drug Behind Cyclops Birth? |url=http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/news/2006/08/71569 |website=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Digital |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204151524/http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/news/2006/08/71569 |archive-date=December 4, 2011 |access-date=December 11, 2025}}</ref> She died approximately a month after her birth, surviving longer than any known previous case.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!-- not stated --> |date=September 20, 2006 |title=Mystery of the One-Eyed Child |url=https://www.wired.com/2006/09/mystery-of-the-one-eyed-child/ |website=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Digital |access-date=December 11, 2025}}</ref> * A boy with one eye and no nose was born in India in 2011. The child died one day after his birth.<ref name="Cyclops Baby Born in India Only Survives 1 Day">{{cite web |title=Cyclops Baby Born in India Only Survives 1 Day |url=http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/24/baby-with-1-eye-and-no-nose-born-in-india-survives-1-day/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919173046/http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/24/baby-with-1-eye-and-no-nose-born-in-india-survives-1-day/ |archive-date=19 September 2012 |access-date=1 October 2012 |publisher=AOL News}}</ref> * In 2011, an albino cyclops shark fetus was discovered in the body of a caught shark in Mexico, with no discernible nose and one giant eye. The unborn fetus was turned over for medical studies.<ref>{{cite web |date=2011-10-13 |title=Pictures: Rare "Cyclops" Shark Found |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/10/pictures/111013-shark-albino-one-eyed-fetus/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140307095739/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/10/pictures/111013-shark-albino-one-eyed-fetus/ |archive-date=March 7, 2014 |access-date=2014-03-07 |publisher=News.nationalgeographic.com}}</ref> * On October 10, 2012, a small kitten was born. Its eye was in the center of the forehead and there was no developed nose to be found. The small cat died shortly after it was born. It was nicknamed Cleyed the Cyclops.<ref name="cleyed">{{cite web |title=Viewers pitied Cleyed, the one-eyed kitten |url=http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/10/viewers-pitied-cleyed-the-one-eyed-kitten |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212015103/http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/10/viewers-pitied-cleyed-the-one-eyed-kitten/ |archive-date=2012-12-12 |access-date=2012-10-17}}</ref> * On May 10, 2017, in Assam, India, a black goat was born with one eye and other cyclopia-related facial abnormalities. It was reported to still be alive over a week later, which is unusual for this condition.<ref>{{cite web |date=28 May 2017 |title=Geten har ett stort jätteöga- märkliga cyklopen vördas som helig |url=https://www.expressen.se/tv/omtalat/geten-har-ett-stort-jatteoga--markliga-cyklopen-vordas-som-helig/}}</ref> * On September 13, 2018, in Mandailing Natal, North Sumatra, Indonesia, a baby with cyclopia was born without a nose and one eye with the weight of 2.4kg (5.3lb) and heart rate under 100 bpm. The child died seven hours after birth.<ref>{{cite web |date=2018-09-14 |title=Bertahan Hidup 7 Jam, Bayi "Cyclopia" Hembuskan Nafas Terakhir |url=https://regional.kompas.com/read/2018/09/14/07150041/bertahan-hidup-7-jam-bayi-cyclopia-hembuskan-nafas-terakhir}}</ref> * On March 16, 2022, a boy was born in Al Bayda, Yemen, with cyclopia. He died 7 hours after birth. He was seen in photos taken by Yemeni journalist Karim Zarai.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-19 |title=One-eyed baby born in Yemen dies 7 hours later |url=https://gulfnews.com/world/gulf/yemen/one-eyed-baby-born-in-yemen-dies-7-hours-later-1.86570881 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=gulfnews.com |language=en}}</ref> * In March 2024, a pig was born in Ilocos Sur, Philippines, with cyclopia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cyclops pig, isinilang sa Ilocos Sur |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/balitambayan/umg/901009/cyclops-pig-isinilang-sa-ilocos-sur/story/}}</ref> * In December 2024, the Korean Society of Perinatology documented a female infant with cyclopia who survived for 8 months on palliative care, which is the longest known to date. The baby girl was born as part of a twin birth, with the other twin being reportedly normal.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Yejun |last2=Yang |first2=Misun |last3=Ahn |first3=So Yoon |last4=Sung |first4=Se In |last5=Chang |first5=Yun Sil |date=2024-12-31 |title=A Case Report of Alobar Holoprosencephaly with Cyclopia and Arrhinia: The Longest-Surviving Infant without Life-Sustaining Interventions |url=https://e-kjp.org/DOIx.php?id=10.14734/PN.2024.35.4.146 |journal=Perinatology |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |page=146 |doi=10.14734/PN.2024.35.4.146 |access-date=2025-08-24 |doi-access=free}}</ref> * In November 2025, a kitten with cyclopia was born on a farm in Vilhena (located within the western state of Rondônia in Brazil).<ref>{{cite web |website=New York Post |title=Rare mutant kitten dubbed ‘cyclops cat’ is born with one eye |date=2025-11-10 |url=https://nypost.com/2025/11/10/lifestyle/rare-mutant-kitten-dubbed-cyclops-cat-is-born-with-one-eye/ |last=Cost |first=Ben |archive-date=2025-12-25 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20251225172332/https://nypost.com/2025/11/10/lifestyle/rare-mutant-kitten-dubbed-cyclops-cat-is-born-with-one-eye/ }}</ref>
== Cultural significance ==
The Islamic State used photos of babies born with cyclopia in its recruitment campaign. ISIS claimed the photos depicted Masih ad-Dajjal, who according to the Hadith, would have only one eye. Mainstream Islamic scholars consider the prophecy as referring to a one-eyed man, not a cyclops.<ref name="isil">{{cite web |date=13 September 2014 |title=Isis Use Picture of 'Cyclops Baby' to Recruit Fighters for Apocalyptic Battle |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-use-picture-cyclops-baby-recruit-fighters-apocalyptic-battle-1465323}}</ref> One infant whose image was circulated in 2014 was claimed to be Israeli, but was actually Bolivian and from 2008. The baby girl from India born in 2006 (see notable cases above) also had her image used.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Porter |first=Tom |date=2014-09-13 |title=Isis Use Picture of 'Cyclops Baby' to Recruit Fighters for Apocalyptic Battle |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-use-picture-cyclops-baby-recruit-fighters-apocalyptic-battle-1465323 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=International Business Times UK |language=en}}</ref>
== Gallery == === Humans === <gallery> Janus head or two-faced man Wellcome L0032588.jpg|1616, Italy Licetus, De monstrorum caussis,...1634 Wellcome L0007741.jpg|1634, Italy An infant with one central eye. Engraving. Wellcome V0007405.jpg|1766, France B. C. Hirst & G. A. Piersol, Human monstrosities. Wellcome L0027960.jpg|1893, United States Pediatrics. (1900) (14578802990).jpg|1900, United States Roland Cyclopie 2.jpg|1909, France Cyclopia 1914.jpg|1912, United Kingdom Cyclopia front.jpg|1920, United States Cyclopia.JPG|1926, Egypt Cephalothoracopagus Janiceps 1.jpg|1950, India Cyclopia 1.jpg|1968, United States Patauface.PNG|Patau syndrome </gallery>
=== Animals === <gallery> File:Les écarts de la nature page20.jpg|Cat, 1775 File:Les écarts de la nature page10.jpg|Horse, 1775 File:Les écarts de la nature page42.jpg|Pig from Martinique, 1775 File:ABNORMALITIES; Tabulae ad illustrandam embry Wellcome L0032361.jpg|Goat, 1849 File:Dog with congenital defects. Lithograph. Wellcome V0022910EBL.jpg|Dog File:Head of a donkey with a congenitally deformed head. Lithogra Wellcome V0022905EL.jpg|Donkey File:Cyclopelamb2.jpg|Sheep with ''in utero'' cyclopamine exposure File:BLW Cyclopian Pig.jpg|A pig at the Hunterian Museum, Glasgow File:Chat cyclope - anatomie comparé mnhn Paris.JPG|Cat in National Museum of Natural History File:Cyclopic Lissachatina immaculata.JPG|''Lissachatina immaculata'' </gallery>
== See also == * Anophthalmia * Hedgehog pathway
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == {{Commonscatinline}} {{Medical resources | DiseasesDB = | ICD10 = {{ICD10|Q|87|0|q|80}} | ICD9 = {{ICD9|759.89}} | ICDO = | OMIM = | MedlinePlus = | eMedicineSubj = | eMedicineTopic = | MeshID = }} {{Phakomatoses and other congenital malformations not elsewhere classified}}
Category:Congenital disorders Category:Absent body parts Category:Congenital disorders of eyes