The calibre of cerebral arteries of the rat studied by carotid angiography: A model system for studying the aetiology of human cerebral arterial constriction after aneurysmal rupture

Abstract

Rupture of human cerebral arterial aneurysms is followed by prolonged cerebral arterial constriction; there is evidence that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from such patients contains vasoconstrictor substances which may cause the arterial constriction. The aim of this study was to develop a small animal model for investigating the effects of such CSF on the calibre of cerebral vessels in situ. Carotid angiography of the cerebral arteries of the rat visualizes the internal carotid, middle cerebral, anterior cerebral and stapedial arteries plus the vertebrobasilar system. Prostacyclin was injected during carotid catheterisation to prevent spontaneous and random occlusion of these cerebral arteries; in the presence of prostacyclin there was no arterial occlusion for up to 5 h. The resolution achieved by the angiographic technique, which magnified the cerebral circulations 2.9 times, was sufficient to measure the diameter of the internal carotid and stapedial arteries of the rat. Intracarotid infusion of 1.0 ml CSF collected from patients with ruptured cerebral arterial aneurysms caused a rapidly developing contraction of cerebral arteries lasting up to 5 h. Thus, we consider that the rat may also be used as a model for investigating the aetiology of human cerebral arterial constriction after aneurysmal rupture.

The Impact of Experimental Preconditioning Using Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Stroke and Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

“…One explanation could be the induction of neoangiogenesis due to VEGF. This observation is in line with results after the experimental cerebral ischemia model in animals [35]. Two major limitations have to be mentioned.…”

“…Angiographic evaluation of small vessels in rats is complex, and thus different techniques have been reported [33–35]. In the present study, a previously described software-based measurement tool for analysis of small cerebral vessels was used to detect vasospasm [24].…”

Time Course in the Development of Cerebral Vasospasm after Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Clinical and Neuroradiological Assessment of the Rat Double Hemorrhage Model

“…The difficulty in angiographic investigations of rat cerebral arteries because of the small vessel size has been discussed previously and several techniques have been investigated (5,10,18,24,32,56). Selective catheterization of the VA (56) shows the highest resolution in imaging the BA (25,32) but contains a higher risk of cardiac abnormalities caused by the contrast medium usually after multiple angiographies (56).…”

Local Delivery of Nimodipine by Prolonged-Release Microparticles—Feasibility, Effectiveness and Dose-Finding in Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

“…Further, angiographic evaluation of small vessels remains difficult, despite various propagated techniques. [15], [29], [30], [31] In this study, we used our validated software-based, measurement tool for analysis of small cerebral vessels and were able to reliably document the aforementioned angiographic diameter difference, in relation to the dose of our study drug. [11] Additionally, the sample size in our study might have been too small to illustrate significant differences in angiographic vasospasm between the different doses of our experimental treatment.…”