Palatine bone in human cyclopia.

In human cyclopia, a maxillopalatine mass separates the median orbit from the oral cavity. The palatine component of this bony mass has been studied in serial sections through the median third of the head in three perinatal human specimens presenting with a median orbit and proboscis. One head was sectioned in the sagittal plane and two in the coronal plane. The course of each neurovascular bundle arising from the maxillary artery and nerve was used to facilitate the identification of the various parts of the palatine bone. The data obtained were used to outline the palatine component of the maxillopalatine mass as it presented on the inferior aspect of a dried cyclops skull. The suggestion is made that the abnormalities of the palatine bone in human cyclopia are secondary to the absence of the presphenoid and the nasal cavity.