Focal middle cerebral artery ischemia in rats via a transfemoral approach using a custom designed microwire

Afshin A. Divani, Ricky Chow, Homayoun Sadeghi-Bazargani, Amanda J. Murphy, Jessica A. Nordberg, Julian V. Tokarev, Mario Hevesi, Xiao Wang, Xiao Hong Zhu, Tommy Acompanado, Peter A. Edwards, Yi Zhang, Wei Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to develop a reliable and repeatable method of inducing focal middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) in rats without ligation of the external carotid artery (ECA), while reducing the risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Methods We prototyped microwires with different diameters (0.0120 inch, 0.0115 inch, 0.0110 inch), materials, and construction methods (coil-on-core, extruded polymer jacket-on-core). Under fluoroscopic guidance and using femoral artery access, the microwires were navigated into the internal carotid artery of male Wistar rats (n=50, weight 376±64 g) to induce MCAo for 1 or 2 h. We performed neurological assessments at baseline, and at 3, 24, 72, and 168 h after MCAo. MRI measurements were performed on a 9.4 T scanner at 1 and 7 days post-injury. Results The 0.0115 inch microwire with polymer jacket-on-core provided the most successful outcome. At 1 and 7 days post-injury, we observed similar infarction volumes for 1 and 2 h MCAo in the MRI study. Infarcted lesion volumes in both MCAo groups were significantly reduced at 7 days compared with 1 day post-injury. The trend in longitudinal changes for the scores of different neurological assessments was confirmed to be significant after the injury, but both groups showed a similar trend of neurological deficits over the course of the study. Conclusions We have developed a reliable and repeatable MCAo method in rats, allowing for precise occlusion of the MCA under direct fluoroscopic visualization without alteration of the cerebral hemodynamics associated with ECA ligation. The custom designed microwire can also be sized for targeted focal ischemia in larger animals.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)608-614
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of NeuroInterventional Surgery
Volume8
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the Summer Student Fellowship program at the Stroke Research Center, University of Minnesota, that was established following generous support from HealthEZ (Bloomington, Minnesota, USA), Lake Region Medical (Chaska, Minnesota, USA), and Covidien (Mansfield, Massachusetts, USA). JVT has received a Seed Grant from the American Medical Association and the Carolyn L Cuckein Student Research Grant from AOA Honor Medical Society. AJM has received a Medical Student Scholarship in Cerebrovascular Disease and Stroke sponsored by the American Heart Association's Stroke Council. MH was also supported by a Nelson Heart Scholarship from the American Heart Association. AAD has received research support from Lake Region Medical

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