Early artery blood flow is more prognostic in rodent model of middle cerebral artery occlusion

Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) by intraluminal suture is one of the most commonly used stroke models. Our previous study has indicated that the intraoperative cerebral blood flow (CBF) immediately after the stroke is prognostic for long-term permanent injury. The area of more than 50% CBF drop at the first minute after the stroke was found significantly correlated with the lesion size at 24 hours after the stroke. In order to compare the prognostic of different vessels, in this study, we further analyzed the correlation between the CBF levels in major artery, vein and the capillary bed and the lesion volume at 24 hours respectively. The results show that ipsilesional artery blood flow is of more prognostic value in MCAO lesion than the CBF in veins and capillaries.