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Introduction and Aim of the Study: This contribution explores the many pathologies that plague the existence of the renowned Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and the impact they had on her character., Methodology and Results: Moving from a mere pathobiographical reassessment, this note, through historico-medical research, highlights the patient-physician relationship that the painter developed with Dr. Leo Eloesser (1881-1976) and underlines the role this form of friendship may play in patients' wellbeing., Conclusion: The special friendship between the artist/patient, Frida Kahlo, and her physician, Dr. Eloesser, shows that medicine is not just the sum of diagnoses and therapies but a much more dynamic and complex process involving trust and humane qualities., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The 17th century was a time of scientific discovery in Europe. Leading academic centers provided the general population with an opportunity to view anatomic dissections of human bodies. Rather than portray idealized versions of individuals, Dutch painters were committed to accurately representing their models. This was true for Johannes Vermeer. The 2023 exhibition of Vermeer's paintings at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam provided an unprecedented opportunity to observe 28 of his 37 existing paintings simultaneously in person. Here the authors suggest that in at least eight paintings a visibly pregnant woman is present. Vermeer's wife was pregnant or lactating most of the time during their 22-year marriage. Further, evidence of specific medical findings and congenital anomalies such as polydactyly, ectrodactyly, alopecia, kyphosis, and hyperthyroidism were observed in the paintings. These have not been previously reported in the medical or art history literature., (© 2024 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.)

Though developmental anomalies have been noted for over a century in South American paleopathology, they have received less attention than other pathological conditions. When anomalies are reported, they tend to be unusual case studies or incidental findings. Paleopathological research should also consider anomalies from a population perspective, to broaden our understanding about the frequency of specific anomalies, and potentially offer insight into genetic relationships, cultural behavior, or environmental factors. This investigation compared block vertebrae and co-occurring postcranial axial anomalies among three skeletal samples reflecting an occupational sequence at the El Brujo Archaeological Complex of Peru. Block vertebrae demonstrate both considerable antiquity and persistence through time, though frequencies, vertebral level, and co-occurring anomalies varied by sex and cultural period. Among the Late Preceramic sample, the frequency of C2-C3 block vertebrae was highest and only seen among females, which may suggest familial influence, genetic isolation, and potentially matrilocality. The Moche sample demonstrated a moderate frequency of blocks, which in combination with the frequencies of other developmental anomalies, may suggest population continuity paired with an influx of new genes, demographic expansion, and possible cultural change with regard to postmarital residence. The Lambayeque sample demonstrated the lowest frequency of blocks and the highest frequency and greatest diversity of anomalies, which may suggest genetic continuity from the Moche, an expanded gene pool, broader opportunities for mate choice, and cultural change. It is hoped that this investigation will provide data for future comparisons and call attention to the need for the broader study of developmental anomalies in South America., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

An important part of China's "Healthy China 2030" planning is to lower the rate of birth defects. Because genetic factors contribute solely or collaboratively to about 80% of the occurrence of birth defects, genetic studies on birth defects can provide precise molecular targets for clinical screening, diagnosis and treatment. Genetic research on birth defects in China has developed by leaps and bounds since 1960s. At the same time, as related research achievements keep accumulating, translation of these scientific discoveries to clinical applications, with genetic counseling and testing as the core practices, has been developed and optimized. A close collaboration between genetic researches and clinical applications would provide reliable technical support for giving birth to more "healthy children" in China. This article firstly reviews China's history of genetic research on birth defects, then introduces current situation and hot topics of the research area at home and abroad and finally discusses about future trend and related clinical applications. In summary, an overall view is provided here for the readers to understand the development route of genetic research on birth defects in China.

Background: Surveillance of congenital anomalies is important to identify potential teratogens., Methods: This study analysed the prevalence of 61 congenital anomaly subgroups (excluding chromosomal) in 25 population-based EUROCAT registries (1980-2012). Live births, fetal deaths and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly were analysed with multilevel random-effects Poisson regression models., Results: Seventeen anomaly subgroups had statistically significant trends from 2003-2012; 12 increasing and 5 decreasing., Conclusions: The annual increasing prevalence of severe congenital heart defects, single ventricle, atrioventricular septal defects and tetralogy of Fallot of 1.4% (95% CI: 0.7% to 2.0%), 4.6% (1.0% to 8.2%), 3.4% (1.3% to 5.5%) and 4.1% (2.4% to 5.7%) respectively may reflect increases in maternal obesity and diabetes (known risk factors). The increased prevalence of cystic adenomatous malformation of the lung [6.5% (3.5% to 9.4%)] and decreased prevalence of limb reduction defects [-2.8% (-4.2% to -1.5%)] are unexplained. For renal dysplasia and maternal infections, increasing trends may be explained by increased screening, and deceases in patent ductus arteriosus at term and increases in craniosynostosis, by improved follow up period after birth and improved diagnosis. For oesophageal atresia, duodenal atresia/stenosis and ano-rectal atresia/stenosis recent changes in prevalence appeared incidental when compared with larger long term fluctuations. For microcephaly and congenital hydronephrosis trends could not be interpreted due to discrepancies in diagnostic criteria. The trends for club foot and syndactyly disappeared once registries with disparate results were excluded. No decrease in neural tube defects was detected, despite efforts at prevention through folic acid supplementation.

Pediatrics began under the most unfavorable conditions that are difficult to imagine nowadays. Children at the start of the 19th century were considered as negligible. The death rate was tremendous, increased by the work of children in factories as soon as 6 years of age in textile industries. In upper classes, infants were fed by a wet nurse, far from their parents and death rate was high as well. The emergence of pediatrics was the result of work carried out in adult medicine in the first half of the 19th century: clinical anatomic method, knowledge of contagious diseases even before the discovery of bacteria, birth of bacteriology. During the whole century, infectious diseases contributed in a large part to children mortality, as that of adults, by cholera, typhus, variola, diphtheria, measles and tuberculosis. Progresses noted during the 2nd part of the century resulted from beginning of hygiene, antisepsis, nutrition improvement, taking consideration of children as human being asking for protection. In contrast, therapeutics as serotherapy, vaccinations at the break of the 20th century played a secondary role., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

The Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) in Saint Petersburg is the oldest museum in Russia. It keeps the remains of the anatomical collection of the world-famous 17th century Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch. This unique collection was bought and shipped in 1717 by Czar Peter the Great, and presently still comprises more than 900 specimens, a modest number of which concerns specimens with congenital anomalies. We searched for teratological clues in the existing collection and in all his descriptions and correspondence regarding specimens and cases he encountered during his career as doctor anatomiae and chief instructor of the surgeons and midwives in Amsterdam. A total of 63 teratological specimens and case descriptions were identified in this legacy, including some exceedingly rare anomalies. As it turns out, Ruysch was the first to describe several of the conditions we encountered, including intracranial teratoma, enchondromatosis, and Majewski syndrome. Although his comments pose an interesting view on how congenital anomalies were scientifically perceived in early 18th century Europe, Ruysch mostly refrained from explaining the causes of the conditions he encountered. Instead, he dedicated himself to careful descriptions of his specimens. Almost 300 years after his demise, Ruysch's legacy still impresses and inspires both scientists and lay men. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part A Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The investigation of mammalian malformations began to approach human needs in the 19th century with, for example, Meckel's dissection of sibs with the "Meckel" syndrome, his intimation of Heredität as cause of the condition, his conclusion as to the common causal origin of this specific combination of congenital anomalies, the clear enunciation of the concept of primary malformations, the recognition that many human malformations are normal developmental states in other animals, and that some were normal anatomical states in remote ancestors and now still normal in collateral descendants (atavisms, Darwin's "reversions"; for example, four wings in dipterans, normal in dragonflies and their common ancestor). Later in the century, Wilhelm His Sr. had proposed a schematic map of "organ-forming districts" for prospective chick development, a concept that did not sit well with early workers in developmental biology (e.g., Boveri) until methods became available for a direct experimental "attack" on the embryo. This approach was pioneered by Spemann and Mangold through interspecies transplantation of embryonic rudiments with the spectacular result that set the research stage in developmental biology for the next many years. But it was not until mid-century that the late, great geneticist, Curt Stern, made the His model of chick development more intellectually and experimentally approachable with his meticulous analysis of cuticular appendages of Drosophila, one bristle and one bristle group (field) at a time, in mosaics or gynandromorphs, leading to the ingenious concept of prepatterns. As a basic scientist, Stern did not broaden prepatterns into medicine or to human malformations where it has now found a most gratifying application. This contribution to the Carey Festschrift is to summarize, briefly, field and prepattern theory. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The programme of the Academia Naturae Curiosorum (today the German Academy of the Sciences Leopoldina) was considerably revised less than twenty years after its creation, in 1652. At the heart of this reform lay the Miscellanea curiosa, the journal that ,,the Curiosi" now started publishing. The ,,epistemic genre" (Gianna PoMATA) they chose for the articles in the Miscellanea curiosa was the observatio. Writing an observatio implied singling out a nugget of experience and documenting it in writing. In the first half-century of its existence, rare things of nature figured prominently in the Miscellanea curiosa. Physicians from all over Europe sent in a seemingly endless stream of reports on monsters. This was increasingly considered as problematic by leading members and functionaries of the academy. Their reluctance to accept ever more observationes on monsters for publication in the Miscellanea curiosa can in part be accounted for by reference to the rarity paradox: preternatural phenomena, by definition rare, seemed to be almost ubiquitous in the naturalist discourse of the period. Furthermore, many of the manuscripts on monsters sent in for publication did not live up to expectations. Even more worrisome, the Curiosi could not but note that monsters were still often interpreted as prodigies bearing divine messages. They had the potential to cause unrest and disorder among the populace and therefore had to be handled with particular care.

Throughout the history of mankind the birth of a child with congenital malformation raised anxiety and torment, along with attempts to explain its origins. It is possible to find relics of such events in prehistoric rock drawings and primitive sculptures, in numerous art pieces produced through the centuries up to modern sculptures, paintings and drawings. The aim of the present article is to show how dwarfs were portrayed in a variety of art forms at different moments in the history of our world.

"Healing is best accomplished when art and science are conjoined, when body and spirit are probed together", says Bernard Lown, in his book "The Lost Art of Healing". Art has long been a witness to disease either through diseases which affected artists or diseases afflicting objects of their art. In particular, artists have often portrayed genetic disorders and malformations in their work. Sometimes genetic disorders have mystical significance; other times simply have intrinsic interest. Recognizing genetic disorders is also an art form. From the very beginning of my work as a Medical Geneticist I have composed personal "algorithms" to piece together evidence of genetics syndromes and diseases from the observable signs and symptoms. In this paper we apply some 'gestalt' Genetic Syndrome Diagnostic algorithms to virtual patients found in some art masterpieces. In some the diagnosis is clear and in others the artists' depiction only supports a speculative differential diagnosis., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome is a congenital defect of the Müllerian ducts characterized by uterovaginal agenesis and underdeveloped female genital organs. This paper is a tribute to the contributors of this condition - August Franz Joseph Karl Mayer, Karl Freiherr von Rokitansky, Hermann Küster and Georges André Hauser. In addition to their contributions, we have discussed findings and reports of similar defects from other important scientists (Hippocrates, Albucasis, etc.) dating as far back as 460B.C. We have also discussed the disease types and different classification systems including VCUAM and AFS/ASRM among others. Even with several surgical and non-surgical treatment options, there are still many questions that remain unanswered and very little is known about the etiology or genetic predisposition of this condition., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The syndromal and genetic biology reported and reviewed herein can be studied, analyzed and reported by any "GP" with the required gifts, enthusiasm, drive, and ability to work with collaborators of goodwill at University centers near or far; and most importantly, to continue lifelong education and retraining. Beginning individually in rural Boulder, MT in 1947 it was possible to train in phenotype analysis with methods available to any GP, somewhat later to enlist collaborators at the Universities of Wisconsin and Washington, and finally to establish a genetic services program at a regional medical center (Shodair Children's Hospital in Helena) with fiscal support from the State Legislature amending and extending the prior Newborn Screening Act of Montana. With such financial stability it was possible to attract another physician, genetic counselors and a cytogeneticist to the Shodair Program. This genetic center now has expanded to a staff of 22 with advanced capabilities in cytogenetics, biochemistry and molecular biology (q.v. Elias in this issue). In these past 50 years then I have seen the Montana Genetics Program grow from humble rural beginnings to the amazing center it is now providing statewide outreach services, genetic education and the most advanced diagnostics and research. Now, it may not be inappropriate for me to recommend the Montana model for implementation in other genetically underserved regions throughout the United States., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Prenatal diagnosis (PND) is frequently identified with genetic testing. The termination of pregnancy for foetal malformation was called 'genetic abortion', in spite of the fact that in many cases the malformation does not result from changes in the genetic material of the cell. This study argues that the 'geneticization' of PND reflected the transformation of the meaning of the term 'genetics' in the 1960s and 70s. Such transformation was linked with the definition of Down syndrome as a genetic condition, and to the key role of search for this condition in the transformation of PND into a routine approach. The identification of PND with the polysemic term 'genetics' was also favoured by hopes that cytogenetic studies will lead to cures or prevention of common birth defects, the association of genetic counsellors with prenatal diagnosis, and the raising prestige of clinical genetics. In spite of the impressive achievements of the latter specialty, more than fifty years after the first prenatal diagnoses, the main 'cure' of a severe foetal malformation remains the same as it was in the 1960s: the termination of a pregnancy. The identification of PND with genetics deflects attention from the gap between scientists' capacity to elucidate the causes of numerous birth defects and their ability (as for now) to prevent or treat these defects, and favours the maintenance of a powerful regimen of hope., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

People with birth defects have been stigmatised, marginalised and discriminated against for millennia, diminishing their human dignity and abrogating their human rights. Beginning with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promulgated in 1947, the circumstances in which human dignity in healthcare for people with birth defects could be achieved arose, and this was accomplished over the next 65 years through the insight, hard work and dedication of a select group of people and organisations. In 2010 the World Health Organization prioritised services for the care and prevention of birth defects, particularly in middle- and low-income countries. Translating what has been achieved into human rights in healthcare for people with birth defects is the next objective.

This Classic Article is a reprint of the original work by W.J. Little, Hospital for the Cure of Deformities: Course of Lectures on the Deformities of the Human Frame. An accompanying biographical sketch of W.J. Little is available at DOI 10.1007/s11999-012-2301-z . The Classic Article is ©1843 and is reprinted courtesy of Elsevier from Little WJ. Hospital for the Cure of Deformities: course of lectures on the deformities of the human frame. Lancet. 1843;41:350-354.

This biographical sketch on William Little corresponds to the historic text, The Classic: Hospital for the Cure of Deformities: Course of Lectures on the Deformities of the Human Frame (1843), available at DOI 10.1007/s11999-012-2302-y .

Objectives: Infant mortality has undergone a dramatic reduction in the UK over the past century because of improvements in public health policy and medical advances. Postmortem examinations have been performed at Great Ormond Street Hospital for over 100 years, and analysis of cases across this period has been performed to assess changing patterns of infant deaths undergoing autopsy., Design: Autopsy reports from 1909 and 2009 were examined. Age, major pathology and cause of death was reviewed from these cases and entered into an anonymized database. A subsequent comparative analysis was performed., Setting: All postmortems performed and reported at Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1909 and 2009., Participants: Infant deaths, aged 0-365 days, were identified and subsequently analysed for the two years., Main Outcome Measures: Comparative proportional analysis of postmortem findings from the two time periods., Results: Three-hundred and fifty-seven and 347 autopsy reports were identified from 1909 and 2009 including 178 and 128 infant deaths, respectively. The commonest cause of death in 1909 was infection (74%) compared to 20% of deaths in 2009. The most frequent final 'diagnosis' in 2009 was 'unexplained sudden unexpected infant death (SUDI)', despite a full postmortem including ancillary investigations. In contrast, there were no such cases recorded in 1909, but there were frequent deaths due to gastroenteritis and malnutrition together accounting for 16% of cases, compared to one case of gastroenteritis in 2009. Fifteen percent of 1909 cases had infections which are almost never fatal with appropriate treatment in 2009, including tuberculosis, diphtheria and syphilis. Congenital anomalies were detected with similar frequencies at both time points, (21% and 19% in 1909 and 2009, respectively)., Conclusion: In the UK, significant changes in patterns of pathology have occurred in paediatric autopsy cases performed at a single specialist centre. Fatal infections and malnutrition (both poverty-related) have reduced yet the incidence of congenital anomalies has remained similar.

The body trade of anatomy schools in Victorian times that underpinned the expansion of medical education has been neglected. This article examines dissection records of insane paupers, sold to repay their welfare debt to society. Each cadaver was entered in an 'Abnormalities and Deformities' dissection book. Student doctors paid fees to anatomists to be taught the pathology of insanity under the Medical Act. Anatomists also dissected cadavers to do further brain and eye research on epilepsy and glaucoma in the insane. These bodies were often dissected to their extremities. Their fragmentary remains were then disposed of in a common grave. This secret body trade and its asylum supply-chain merit further work in disability studies and the history of psychiatry.

Teratology is the science of congenital developmental disorders (CDDs), overt or latent defects of the organism resulting from the effect of internal and external factors on developmental processes. In this article the significance and position of present-day teratology is discussed in the context of development of this branch of science and related disciplines. The authors present an updated overview of the most important milestones and stages of the development of teratology. Based on the analysis of the historical development of theses and theories that represent a decisive contribution to this field, we present a survey of the fundamental principles of experimental and clinical teratology. The aim of observing these principles is to get insight into developmental relations and to understand mechanisms of action on the level of cell populations (elementary morphogenetic processes), tissues and organs. It is important to realize that any negative intervention into the normal course of these processes, either on genetic or non-genetic basis, inevitably leads to a sequence of subsequent changes resulting in the development of congenital developmental disorders. Despite modern approaches of molecular biology and genetics, along with top diagnostic techniques, we are still not able to identify the actual cause in more than 50% of all congenital defects. One-half of the unidentified cases are referred to as "multifactorial", a term that is rather ambiguous. It either means that some of the basic principles of teratogenesis still escape our attention, or the interpretation of some of the well known principles might be misleading. A third possibility is rather pessimistic. The development of the individual is so sophisticated and dependent on a delicate network of a multitude of factors mutually affecting each other that it is extremely prone to give rise to a plethora of spontaneous errors which are unpredictable and impossible to prevent. Nevertheless, the long and complicated history of scientific endeavour has yielded considerable present-day knowledge on causes and mechanisms of CDDs, a history whose beginnings date back to antiquity.

The increasing attention of archaeological and anthropological research towards palaeopathological studies has allowed to focus the examination of many skeletal samples on this aspect and to evaluate the presence of many diseases afflicting ancient populations. This paper describes the most interesting diseases observed in skeletal samples from five necropolises found in urban and suburban areas of Rome during archaeological excavations in the last decades, and dating back to the Imperial Age. The diseases observed were grouped into the following categories: articular diseases, traumas, infections, metabolic or nutritional diseases, congenital diseases and tumors, and some examples are reported for each group. Although extensive epidemiological investigation in ancient skeletal records is impossible, palaeopathology allowed highlighting the spread of numerous illnesses, many of which can be related to the life and health conditions of the Roman population., (Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

In this short essay we will discuss the possible diseases of King Richard III according to the descriptions in Shakespeare's plays King Richard III and Henry VI. Furthermore, it is shown that the description of the defeated enemy as physically and mentally deformed is part of a long tradition which has its roots in Ancient Greece.

Purpose: We observed a complex atlas (C1) dysmorphism in a human medieval skeleton dug up from the sixth to the seventh century necropolis located in the north-eastern Italy. We analyzed such a dysmorphism in the light of pertinent literature and discussed the functional and clinical implications related to this type of C1 structural malformation., Methods: Macroscopical and CT-SCAN examinations of the atlas were carried out., Results: Bone findings consisted of partial aplasia of the posterior arch of the C1 accompanied by a bilateral arcuate foramen. In addition, the spinous processes of C7 and T1 were found to be bifid., Conclusions: Although such abnormalities are supposed to be clinically inconspicuous, yet they may become challenging or even dangerous in the context of trauma. They may even complicate specific diagnostic or surgical procedures. In addition, they may cause a great number of symptoms, ranging from headache and neck pain to loss of postural muscle tone and consciousness, due to the close and complex relationship of bone structures with nerves, blood vessels, muscles, and ligaments. As a result, radiologists, clinicians, surgeons, and chiropractors should consider in their clinical reasoning the possibility that atlas dysmorphisms may occur.

Since antiquity philosophers and scientists tried to explain the cause of congenital malformations. In early modern medicine maternal imagination was largely accepted as their true cause, This concept was rejected by Blondel, a London physician. Around 1750 Wolff introduced the Hemmungsbildung as the cause of congenital malformations, a concept adopted in 1781 by Blumenbach. Later on Soemmerring (1784), Crichton (1785) and Meckel the younger adopted Blumenbach's concept. In 1824 Suringar further developed it. More and more the excessive development of fetal blood vessels or nerves was rejected as a possible cause, although from time to time these ideas were adopted again. In the early 1800s Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1811) and Vrolik (1817) developed a classification of monstra. These attempts urged Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (Etienne's son) and Vrolik the younger (Gerard's son) to develop it further. Nevertheless, around 1840 Vrolik had to admit that although we are well acqainted with the various malformations, we are still ignorant of the primary cause of these phenomena. Meanwhile the dispute between the adherents of the theory of preformation and those who had adopted the concept of epigenesis exercised many minds. In the second half of the eighteenth century the latter theory became more and more adopted and this fact cleared the way for the ideas introduced by Wolff and Blumenbach, because it was consistent with the idea of a gradual development of fetal structures.

Environmental causes of birth defects have increasingly been recognized since the mid-20th century. The teratogenic effects of maternal infections such as rubella and therapeutic drugs such as thalidomide were first reported by alert clinicians. Among clinicians and researchers who have contributed significantly to our knowledge of these environmental causes, Norman Gregg was a Sydney ophthalmologist whose seminal study in 1941 identified maternal rubella as a cause of birth defects. The teratogenic effects of thalidomide were first noted in 1961 by William McBride, a Sydney obstetrician, and independently confirmed by Widukind Lenz, a German pediatrician. Marsh Edwards, an Australian veterinary scientist, showed experimentally that maternal hyperthermia caused birth defects in various animal species. While it is likely that alert individual clinicians or researchers will continue to signal the first clues about new environmental causes of birth defects, especially therapeutic drugs, it is now usually teams of laboratory researchers and epidemiologists who are more likely to provide definitive evidence of these new teratogens., (© 2011 The Author. Congenital Anomalies © 2011 Japanese Teratology Society.)

Exploring literary sources from the first century BCE up to the eleventh century CE, this article demonstrates how the history of disabilities in antiquity can go further than just collecting 'interesting case histories'. Using a model developed by Michel Vovelle, the sources are interpreted on different levels, taking into account both the cultural context in which the text arose and the intentions of the author.

This article offers a new reading of the well-known diary kept by the Florentine apothecary Luca Landucci between 1450 and 1516, examining its accounts of prodigies and other "monstrous" occurrences from a modern scientific point of view. Particular consideration is given to descriptions of a variety of birth defects observed in various Italian cities at the time, providing explanations for each case based on the latest medical theories. A detailed analysis is provided for a case of cranioschisis recorded in Volterra in 1474, a case of Opitz syndrome occurring in Venice in 1489, the birth of conjoined twins in Padua in the same year, conjoined triplets born to a 60-year-old woman in Venice, the well-publicized account of the 1512 Ravenna monster and, finally, the thoraco-acephalus tetramelus adolescent that Landucci personally observed in Florence in 1513.

The mythology of the Greeks and Romans is full of monsters of fiction: giants, cyclops, centaurs, hydras, Gorgons… The accounts of travelers, reproduced in the Natural History of Pline l'Ancien reported the existence, in distant countries, of men with a dog's head (baboons), of men with a single tall foot (sciapode), beings whose face is embedded in the chest (or acephala blemmyes), to which must be added a wide variety of men with no mouth, no nose, or equipped with giant ears or feet turned backwards, as well as hermaphrodites. Teratology reports on monstrous births, which have constituted the factual basis from which the imagination conceived adults whose morphology corresponds to the monsters of legend. Newborns sirenomelia were behind the legend of sciapode and sirens. Cyclopia have inspired the legend of the cyclops. Anencephaly probably explains the description of headless or blemmyes. The genesis of the legend of baboons may have multiple origins: firstly the existence of people suffering from congenital hypertrichosis, on the other hand, the influence of Egyptian mythology where the god Anubis has a dog's head. The acardiac fetus may explain some monstrous forms, features the work of Hieronymus Bosch. The significance of the monsters of legend, their genesis, their persistence through the ages is complex. By approaching teratology, we added a new field of exploration of real monsters of antiquity and Middle Ages., (Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier SAS.)