• Nina Eriksen, Rune S Rasmussen, Karsten Overgaard, Flemming F Johansen, and Bente Pakkenberg.
• Research Laboratory for Stereology and Neuroscience, Bispebjerg Hospital, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Int J Stroke. 2014 Aug 1; 9 (6): 802-10.

BackgroundStrokes have both ischemic and hemorrhagic components, but most studies of experimental stroke only address the ischemic component. This is likely because investigations of hemorrhagic transformation are hindered by the lack of methods based on unbiased principles for volume estimation.AimsWe evaluated different methods for estimating the volume of infarcts, hemorrhages, after embolic middle cerebral artery occlusion with or without thrombolysis.MethodsAn experimental thromboembolytic rat model was used in this study. The rats underwent surgery and were placed in two groups. Group 1 was treated with saline, and group 2 was treated with 20 mg/kg recombinant tissue plasminogen activator to promote intracerebral hemorrhages. Stereology, semiautomated computer estimation, and manual erythrocyte counting were used to test the precision and efficiency of determining the size of the infarct and intracerebral hemorrhage.ResultsNo differences were observed in the infarct volume or amount of bleeding when comparing the three methods of volume estimation. Although semiautomated computer estimation and manual erythrocyte counting provided similar results as the stereological measurements, the stereological method was the most efficient and advantageous.ConclusionsWe found that stereology was the superior method for quantification of hemorrhagic volume, especially for rodent petechial bleeding, which is otherwise difficult to measure. Our results suggest the possibility of measuring both the ischemic and the hemorrhagic components of stroke, two parameters that may be differentially regulated when therapeutic regimens are tested.© 2012 The Authors. International Journal of Stroke © 2012 World Stroke Organization.

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