Intraluminal spindle-shaped-head suture induced occlusion of middle cerebral artery in the rats.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to introduce a modified animal model of middle cerebral arterial occlusion (MCAO) through placement of intraluminal spindle-shaped head suture by comparing the traditional MCAO model.

METHODS: A total of 60 male Spraque-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into two groups and MCAO was induced using spindle-shaped head suture or round head suture. The mortality, infarct volume, neurological function, success rate of the surgery, and stability of modeling were examined to evaluate the effectiveness of this model.

RESULTS: Our results showed the success rate was 90.0% in spindle-shaped head group and 83.3% in round head group showing no significant difference; spindle-shaped head achieved a better establishment of MCAO model as shown in neurological examination. The infarct volume was 31.99 ± 5.44% in spindle-shaped head group and was significantly higher than in round head group (24.59 ± 7.17%; p < 0.05), and the coefficient of variation of infarct volume in spindle-shaped head group was lower than in round head group.

CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that the modified suture induces a more reproducible and stable ischemic stroke following MCAO in SD rats.