Ingolf Sack1,
Florian B. Freimann2, Susanne Mller3, Kaspar-Josche
Streitberger1, Juergen Braun4
1Department
of Radiology, Charit - Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 2Department
of Neurosurgery, Charit - Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 3Center
of Stroke Research, Charit - Universittsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 4Institute
of Medical Informatics, Charite - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Blood flow interruption in a cerebral artery causes brain ischemia with dramatic impact to metabolism and function of the brain. We use MR elastography (MRE) to reveal the alteration of elasticity and viscosity in the murine brain within 28 days after middle cerebral artery occlusion and compared the results to histological markers. MRE-parameters significantly correlated with the number of neurons in both hemispheres and displayed a stroke-related reduction at day 7 after stroke. Our results suggest that neurons contribute to the macroscopic mechanical properties of brain tissue such that a loss of neuronal density reduces the viscoelasticity of brain tissue.