ABSTRACT
Stroke in its hemorrhagic or more common thromboembolic form continues to be a vexing chronic disease for its survivors and their caregivers. In addition to fundamental studies of cerebral ischemia, much effort in experimental stroke research has been expended on the development and testing of “neuroprotective” drugs, usually in rodents, to mitigate stroke damage. Just as important as simulation of thrombotic/embolic stroke is the development of dependable and specific methods for removing, with minimal side effects, cerebral arterial occlusions. An alternative to the cortical spot model is the ring model, in which a ring-shaped laser beam photochemically creates an annular cortical lesion, and the region inside the thin annulus reproducibly undergoes stroke in evolution in similar fashion, it is presumed, to a classical penumbra. An interesting aspect of flavin mononucleotide photochemistry is that irradiation of rat cortex with an unfocussed blue laser beam specifically occludes venous-side microvessels, resulting in multiple petechial hemorrhages.
