Peripheral electrical stimulation augments cerebral collateral circulation if performed within a critical time window

Abstract

Ischemic stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world. Recent advances in acute stroke care have dramatically improved clinicians' abilities to reperfuse occluded blood vessels. With these advances, the importance of adjunctive therapies to supplement or complement reperfusion therapy is receiving greater interest. Cerebral collateral circulation is one of such area that is now gaining greater interest in acute stroke care. In this study, we investigate the use of peripheral electrical stimulation to induce functional hyperemia in a mouse animal model in the setting of acute stroke. Using a laser speckle contrast imaging system, we evaluated the use of peripheral electrical stimulation at 1 hour and 3 hours after stroke induction. Results demonstrated that stimulation initiated 1 hour following stroke significantly increase collateral cerebral blood flow, while stimulation at 3 hours after stroke had no appreciable effect. These results suggest that augmentation cerebral collateral circulation may be possible in the setting of acute stroke although there may be a critical time window in which this would have to be initiated.