Does Acute Behavioral Testing Reflect Successful Ischemia in Rats with Transient Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion

BackgroundModels of intraluminal middle cerebral artery occlusion present an intrinsic variability in infarct size. Behavioral evaluation is frequently performed during arterial occlusion to confirm success of surgery.Aims and/or hypothesisWe compared the value of behavioral testing and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging performed during arterial occlusion for identifying successfully operated animals.MethodsRats were tested with behavioral assessment (using three scoring scales and the adhesive removal test) and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (including magnetic resonance angiography, diffusion-weighted and perfusion-weighted imaging), both performed during the two-hours of middle cerebral artery occlusion using the intraluminal suture model. Behavioral assessment was repeated 24 h after reperfusion, followed by sacrifice.ResultsAcute apparent diffusion coefficient lesion volume was correlated with both 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride infarct size (r = 0.75, P = 0.02) and behavioral status...