Effectiveness of a new modified intraluminal suture for temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion in rats of various weight.

Intraluminal temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) is a common model of ischemic stroke in the rat with significant, suture and weight-dependent variability along with increased risk of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Our purpose was to increase reproducibility and decrease SAH using a modification of the Koizumi suture. We compared a Koizumi 5/0 Ethilon poly-l-lysine-coated suture (s-2, group B) to an identical, uncoated one (s-1, group A) and the Belayev's 3/0 suture (s-3, group C), in the 2-h MCAO model in Wistar rats of varying weight (310-527 g).

Evaluation of the stability of blood flow over time in the dominant hemisphere: a functional transcranial Doppler study.

Functional transcranial Doppler (fTCD) has been used for the identification of cerebral hemispheric dominance in various cognitive tasks. In our study, we have used fTCD with the aim to compare blood flow patterns in the hemispheres not only during the task activation periods but also in the post-stimulus phase. Normal volunteers, 25 right and 25 left-handed, were included.