holoprosencephaly

English

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”) + πρόσω (prósō, “forwards, onwards”) (referring to the prosencephalon (“forebrain”)) + ἐγκέφαλος (enképhalos, “brain”) + English -y (suffix denoting a condition), i.e. “condition of a whole (inappropriately divided) forebrain”. By surface analysis, holo- +‎ pro- +‎ -s- +‎ encephal- +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛfəli

Noun

holoprosencephaly (countable and uncountable, plural holoprosencephalies)

1. (teratology) A congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain during fetal development, resulting in skull and facial deformities ranging from minor cleft lip problems to cyclopia, in which a single eye develops where the nose would normally be.

Synonyms

• HPE (abbreviation)

Hyponyms

• cyclopia

Coordinate terms

• Classifications of holoprosencephaly
  • alobar
  • semilobar
  • lobar
• Associated facial deformities
  • premaxillary agenesis
  • cyclopia
  • ethmocephaly
  • cebocephaly

Derived terms

• HPE (abbreviation)

Related terms

• prosencephalon
• encephalon

Translations

a congenital disorder involving insufficient division of the lobes of the brain

• Finnish: holoprosenkefalia
• Portuguese: holoprosencefalia f, arrinencefalia f

References

• NINDS Holoprosencephaly Information Page at the (U.S.) National Institutes of Health