Wide-area measurement-based supervision of the cerebral venous hemodynamic in a novel rat model

Abstract

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) includes primary and secondary injuries, while monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) is conducive to improve the prognosis of patients. However, the function of cerebral venous in this process is still unclear.

New method: An acute epidural hematoma (AEDH) model was developed by placing a controllable micro balloon in the right epidural space of a rat. The laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) system was used to observe CBF in real time, while ICP was monitored simultaneously. And the stability of this model was examined by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results: The blood perfusion rate (BPR) of venous was significantly negatively correlated with ICP. In the 100 μ L group, the ipsilateral cerebral venous and microcirculation blood flow significantly decreased. According to the gross observations and pathological results, ischemic brain injury was the most serious on this condition.

Comparison with existing method(s): Modeling method is relatively simple, which effectively reduces the cost. The volume of the micro balloon is adjusted to simulate the volume of different size of hematomas. In addition, LSCI, as an advanced blood flow monitoring technology, has high sensitivity to detect subtle changes in CBF.

Conclusion: This study successfully developed a stable and reproducible AEDH rat model. Based on this model, it is preliminarily demonstrated that local intracranial hypertension can cause cerebral venous return restriction, which is an indispensable factor leading to the aggravation of secondary brain injury.

Keywords: Acute epidural hematoma; Animal model; Cerebral venous blood flow; Laser speckle contrast imaging; Secondary brain injury.