Importance of radiology in the study of anatomical pieces. Study of thecranio-facial region from a cyclope fetus.

Cyclopia is a congenital anomaly characterized by the presence of a unique eye in the medial part of the face, which combines the lack of separation of the eyes and the failure of prosencephalic division. In this strange anomaly there is a defective development of the anterior end of the neural tube, which is always associated with brain abnormalities. It is considered the most extreme variable in the holoprosencephaly that is frequently associated with anomalies of the mid line involving the facial region and other systems. There exist a wide variation, from complete cyclopia, which presents a rudimentary unique eye in the mid line, up to the incomplete cyclopia, where there are two well formed ocular globes that are very near in a wide orbit. It arises from the action of different teratogenic factors altering the normal embryonic development and consequently distorting axes determination, and the ocular organogenesis. Among the teratogenic factors the environmental and genetic are cited. At the moment the cyclopia diagnosis is achieved during intra-uterine life by the ultrasonographic study at precocious stages of the development, during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, the postmortem radiological study of anatomical fetal pieces is also important for the assesment of other malformations. The case of a feminine sex fetus cyclops is presented, who exhibits in the ventral face region a unique eye, which is located in a rhombic orbital cavity. The lids are fused. Between the superior lip and the unique eye, a depression is observed that delineate the superior maxillary. Simple radiological, tomographic, and magnetic resonance cranio-facial studies were carried out confirming their importance for the detection of other associate anomalies, not only external, but also bony and visceral.