Establishment of an Acute Cerebral Embolism Model in Rabbits

Objective To establish a highly stable cerebral embolism model in rabbits and to provide a reliable tool for investigating the pathology,physiology and medical imaging of cerebral embolism.Methods Thirty New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups: Group A(n = 3) underwent no operation,group B(n = 5) underwent sham operation,group C(n = 22) underwent an operation of embolic brain injury.Right cervical vessels were separated and about ten SiO_2 grains(D = 0.5～1.0 mm) were injected into internal carotid artery via external carotid artery.After 30 minutes,CT perfusion imaging was performed and the severity of cerebral ischemia was evaluated.The rabbits were killed after 24 hours and pathological examination was performed.Results No abnormality was seen on CT and pathology in group A and group B.In the embolic group,three rabbits died,three rabbits were normal on CT perfusion and sixteen rabbits were abnormal on CT perfusion.Low cerebral blood flow,prolonged mean transit time and slightly lower or higher cerebral blood volume was found on CT perfusion maps.Cerebral infarction in eight rabbits,cerebral ischemia in seven rabbits and no abnormality in four rabbits were found by HE staining patology.Conclusions With this technique,a stable acute cerebral embolism model in rabbits has been established,with good reliability and reproducibility.