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Study confirms presence of RNFL split bundles in normal human eyes
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Retinal nerve fiber layer split bundles appear to be a true and relatively common anatomic entity in normal human eyes, according to a study by researchers in Israel. "The presence of a split bundle, being a normal variant, should be distinguished from [retinal nerve fiber layer] loss," the authors said.
Ehud Kaliner, MD, and colleagues at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem plotted peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measurements from ring sections obtained from 14 normal postmortem eyes taken from 13 individuals. Investigators sought to determine whether RNFL split bundles can be found in tissue samples of normal human eyes.
The ring sections measured 3 mm, 3.5 mm, 4 mm and 4.5 mm in diameter. The researchers found a "distinct histologic pattern of RFNL split bundles" in five of the 14 eyes, according to the study.
Of the five RNFL bundles, three were found superiorly and two were found inferiorly. None of the 14 eyes showed both superior and inferior split bundles, the authors noted.
The study is published in the December edition of Ophthalmology.