The Rabbit Shunt Model of Subarachnoid Haemorrhage

Abstract

Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) is a disease with devastating complications that leads to stroke, permanent neurological deficits and death. Clinical and ex-perimental work has demonstrated the importance of the contribution of delayed cerebral vasospasm (DCVS) indepen-dent early events to mortality, morbidity and functional out-come after SAH. In order to elucidate processes involved in early brain injury (EBI), animal models that reflect acute events of aneurysmal bleeding, such as increase in intracranial pressure (ICP) and decrease in cerebral perfusion pressure, are needed. In the presented arterial shunt model, bleeding is initially driven by the pressure gradient between mean arterial blood pressure and ICP. SAH dynamics (flow rate, volume and duration) depend on physiological reactions and local anatomical intrathecal (cistern) conditions. During SAH, ICP reaches a plateau close to diastolic arterial blood pressure and the blood flow stops. Historical background, anaesthesia, perioperative care and monitoring, SAH induction, technical considerations and advantages and limitations of the rabbit blood shunt SAH model are discussed in detail. Awareness of technical details, physiological characteristics and appropriate monitoring methods guarantees successful implementation of the rabbit blood shunt model and allows the study of both EBI and DCVS after SAH.

Animal Models for the Study of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Are We Moving Towards Increased Standardization?

“…The SAH research community shared experiences and discussed current practices and future prospects of SAH animal models [1].As a follow-up to the collegial and cooperative initial discussions, Translational Stroke Research has offered to publish a series of critical reviews of established and novel SAH models in mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, and nonhuman primates [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. These reviews address important aspects regarding parameters used, advantages and limitations, outcome measures and applicability for the study of DCVS and EBI and are meant to provide guidance on how to conduct experiments in the future.…”

Systemic and CSF Interleukin-1α Expression in a Rabbit Closed Cranium Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Model: An Exploratory Study

“…Detailed protocols for surgery and angiography have been previously described elsewhere [30,31,32]. Digital subtraction angiography (DSA) was performed under general anesthesia at day 0 prior to SAH and on day 3.…”

“…The caliber of the basilar artery (BA) was measured, as previously described (the midpoint of the basilar artery, and 0.5 cm above and below), in a blinded manner using ImageJ (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA) [1,33]. To assess the degree of DCVS, the relative change between baseline and follow up was compared [1,30,34]. Following baseline DSA on day 0, either induction of SAH or sham procedure was performed, as described earlier [30,31,32,35,36].…”

“…To assess the degree of DCVS, the relative change between baseline and follow up was compared [1,30,34]. Following baseline DSA on day 0, either induction of SAH or sham procedure was performed, as described earlier [30,31,32,35,36]. In all animals, intracranial pressure (ICP), arterial blood pressure, and respiration rate were continuously monitored.…”

“…In prone position, a 27 G spinal access needle was inserted into the cisterna magna. In animals assigned to the SAH, the needle was connected to the catheterized subclavian artery to induce a hemorrhage [30,31]. Sham-operated animals underwent puncture of the cisterna magna, CSF sampling (1.5 mL), and CSF replacement with 1.5 mL artificial CSF (ACSF, Tocris Bioscience, Bristol, UK).…”