Background and Purpose: Accurate and reproducible determination of the size and location of cerebral infarcts is critical for the evaluation of experimental focal cerebral ischemia. The purpose of this study was to compare intracardiac perfusion of 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride with immersion of brain tissue in 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride to delineate brain infarcts in rats.Methods: After 6, 24, or 48 hours of ischemia induced by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion, some rats were perfused with 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride; other rats were given an overdose of barbiturates, after which brain sections were immersed in 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride. Coronal sections were taken 4, 6, and 8 mm from the frontal pole, and infarct areas in perfused and immersed sections were compared; subsequently, the same sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin.Results: In rats subjected to 24 or 48 hours of occlusion, areas of infarction were clearly defined with both 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride staining techniques, and the infarct sizes correlated well with the results of hematoxylin and eosin staining (r=0.85-0.94).Conclusions: These results demonstrate that intracardiac perfusion of 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride is an accurate, inexpensive, and efficient staining method to detect infarcted tissue 24 and 48 hours after the onset of ischemia in rats. (Stroke 1991;22:1394-1398)

We evaluated the usefulness of three-dimensional CT angiography (3D-CTA) in the diagnosis of intracranial vasospasm following subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) in 13 patients suspected of having vasospasm on clinical grounds. The intracranial vessels were clearly shown by 3D-CTA in 12 patients. 3D-CTA revealed spasm in the vessels of nine patients. Catheter angiography performed in seven of these patients immediately after 3D-CTA confirmed vasospasm. A low-attenuation area was seen on CT in the other two patients, representing an ischaemic lesion due to the spasm. In nine patients, a second 3D-CTA was performed using the same technique 1 week after the first, showing no vasospasm. Initial 3D-CTA revealed no vasospasm change in three patients. Following 3D-CTA, one of these had conventional angiography, which also demonstrated no spasm.

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