It has become clear that susceptibility to hypoxic-ischemic, excitotoxic, and oxidative insults is increased at specific stages of postnatal brain maturation, affecting both the acute and lasting injury patterns seen after the insult. For decades, a model of hypoxia-ischemia in postnatal days 7–9 (P7–P9) was the only rodent model relevant to ischemic brain injury in the neonate. This model is more likely to mimic global hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy rather that focal transient ischemia of a single artery, such as the middle cerebral artery (MCA). To study the mechanisms of arterial pediatric stroke, a transient MCA occlusion model was first developed in juvenile rats. Since focal occlusion of the MCA is more commonly seen in term human babies than children and brain maturation affects the response to cerebral ischemia, we developed a transient MCA occlusion in P7 rats to satisfy the need for age-appropriate stroke models. We produced a series of models of different stroke severity by varying the duration of MCA occlusion and the age of the animals. In this chapter, we will describe in detail surgical procedures to induce MCA occlusion, ways to ascertain that the procedure is successful, and discuss factors and limitations that can affect short and longerterm injury outcomes.
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Vexler, Z.S., Ferriero, D.M. (2009). Model of Neonatal Focal Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion. In: Chen, J., Xu, Z.C., Xu, XM., Zhang, J.H. (eds) Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-185-1_20
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