Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-29-2025
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Concentric macular rings (CMR) and Henle fiber layer (HFL) corrugations, potential clinical biomarkers of foveal hypoplasia, have been observed in laser fundus photographs and optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, respectively. Some believe these findings represent true anatomical structural changes while others hypothesize that they are artifacts of interference; however, to our knowledge, no previous study has provided evidence to support either theory.
METHODS: This retrospective case series analyzed CMR and OCT corrugations in 3 patients (6 eyes) with foveal hypoplasia. Dark fringe diameters of CMR at different wavelengths (λ: red = 635, green = 532, blue = 488 nm) and OCT corrugations of the first five dark fringes were measured. Dark fringe diameter was compared to fringe order (n) and λ using linear regression and t-tests.
RESULTS: CMR fringe measurements demonstrated linear relationships between radius2 (r2) and fringe order at all wavelengths (mean R2: 0.949, SD: 0.022, range: 0.911–0.985). OCT corrugation measurements also exhibited strong linearity with fringe order (R2 = 0.998, 0.946). Fringe r2 increased with wavelength but exceeded theoretical predictions (p < 0.05), especially among ratios including shorter λ (mean difference r2 red:green = 0.104, green:blue = 0.292, red:blue = 0.468).
CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to provide evidence supporting an etiologic mechanism of CMR and HFL corrugations, showing correlation with physical phenomena of interference. CMR and HFL corrugations correlate with fringe order (n) and λ in a manner consistent with Newton’s rings (r2 = nR’λ, r = radius, R’ = radius of curvature), suggesting these phenomena are imaging artifacts. Further research validating these results will be important.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study does not report the results of a health care intervention on human participants.
CLINICAL TRIAL DISCLOSURE: This study does not report results of a clinical trial.
Recommended Citation
August, Ari; Eagle, Ralph; Milman, Tatyana; Procopio, Rebecca; Schnall, Bruce; and Pulido, Jose, "Concentric Macular Rings and OCT Corrugations in Foveal Hypoplasia: Proof of Concept for an Optical Interference Mechanism" (2025). Wills Eye Hospital Papers. Paper 284.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/willsfp/284
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
41462409
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author’s final published version in International Journal of Retina and Vitreous, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2025, Article number 141.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s40942-025-00755-5. Copyright © The Author(s) 2025.