Abstract #3690

ASL-Based Cerebral Perfusion with or Without Permanent Unilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion: Towards an Optimized Mouse Stroke Model.

Tom Dresselaers¹, Wouter Oosterlinck², Tom Struys¹,³, Kristof Govaerts¹, Ivo Lambrichts³, Paul Herijgers², Uwe Himmelreich¹

¹Department of Imaging & Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vl.Brabant, Belgium; ²Department of Experimental Cardiac Surgery, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vl.Brabant, Belgium; ³Department of Functional Morphology, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium

Unilateral Ligation of the common carotid artery (CCA) is usually performed for mouse stroke models. This study shows the impact of such a ligation on the cerebral blood flow using arterial spin labeling in sham operated animals under isoflurane anesthesia. Such ligation of the CCA may impact stroke development at early and later stages in the tMCAO mouse model. We demonstrate that a suture of the CCA avoids interhemispheric differences in CBF. We therefore speculate that this sutured tMCAO model may result in more consistent lesions, less mortality and a more realistic stroke model.