Identification of brain tissue necrosis by MRI: validation by histomorphometry.

The volume of an experimental necrotic lesion of the cortex expands up to 400% of its initial size within the first 24 h after the insult. Lesion expansion, a clinically well known phenomenon, is often accompanied by perifocal brain edema and consequently difficult to image and to analyze by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Therefore we aimed to validate a T(2)-weighted spin echo sequence upon its ability to distinguish necrotic from edematous brain tissue.