Abstract
There are large differences in the distribution of cones in the living human retina, with the density at the fovea varying more than with greater eccentricities. The size and shape of the foveal avascular zone also varies across individuals, and distances between capillaries can be greatly enlarged in disease. While diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetes impact greatly on both cones and retinal vessels, some cones can survive for decades although their distributions become more irregular. Surprisingly, in some diseased eyes, cone density at retinal locations outside those most compromised can exceed cone density for control subjects.