Persistence of Cloquet's canal in normal healthy eyes.

Abstract

Optic nerve head (ONH) structural imaging with state-of-the-art, high-speed, ultra-high-resolution optical coherence tomography (hsUHR-OCT). Observational cohort study. ONH centered 3-dimensional (94,371,840 voxel measurements in a 6- x 6- x 1.4-mm tissue volume) hsUHR-OCT data were obtained in one eye from each of six males and nine females normal healthy volunteers (40 +/- 9 years of age). The presence of structures projecting anteriorly from the disk into the vitreous was noted. Structures were noted in 14 of 15 (93%) examined eyes, emanating from the rim of the ONH at the nasal inferior sector, presenting as thin tissue meandering into the vitreous. Previous technologies provided limited visualization of ONH structures. The ability to scan the entire disk using 3-dimensional OCT (3D-OCT) in a high-density raster pattern reveals a high frequency of persistence of Cloquet's canal in the normal healthy eye.