Morphometric Comparison of the Human Optic Nerve Fiber with Various Other Human Nerve Fibers

The morphometric characteristics of nerve fibers of the human optic nerve in the chiasmatic region were measured with the combination of an image analyzer and a computer, using the Luxol fast blueperiodic acid-Schiff-hematoxylin discriminative staining method. The mean axonal transverse area of the human optic nerve fibers was 0.644 ± 0.361 µm2. Comparison of the size of the axon of the human optic nerve fiber with that of various other human nerves showed optic nerve fibers were definitely thinner than the other nerve fibers, and were surrounded by a thinner myelin sheath. Optic nerves may be more liable to mechanical damage at surgery that previously believed.