Murine subarachnoid hemorrhage: Delayed injury

Delayed cerebral ischemia is a devastating event which occurs in about one third of surviving subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. Delayed cerebral ischemia is characterized by new/worsening functional deficits and brain infarction during the first week after injury. To date, there are no known therapeutic targets to prevent delayed cerebral ischemia, and animal models testing delayed cerebral ischemia are limited. Herein, the methods for detecting delayed cerebral ischemia in mice subjected to subarachnoid hemorrhage are described. We present the techniques for identifying delayed functional deficits, monitoring development of brain infarcts, and performing post-mortem analyses related to delayed cerebral ischemia. We argue that if the right methods are utilized, more studies of delayed cerebral ischemia after experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage can be pursued with the goals of determining the causes of, and therapeutic targets for, delayed cerebral ischemia.