An experimental study on multi-slices CT angiography of the basilar artery in rabbit model of cerebral vasospasm

Background: Current methods for diagnosing cerebral vasospasm (CVS) include transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography and the current gold standard of digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The diagnosis of CVS is straightforward, but DSA is limited in its ability to quantify cerebral blood flow or the risk of cerebral ischemia leading to stroke. Sensitivity and specificity of TCD can vary greatly, depending on the level of experience of the operator. The purpose of this study was to explore the result of the multi-slices CT angiography (MSCTA) of the rabbit basal artery (BA), and to determine the value of MSCTA in rabbit model of CVS. Methods: In this study 25 Japan rabbits were randomly divided into two groups: control (n=5) and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) (n=20). A rabbit basilar artery CVS model was developed by injection of autologous arterial blood into the cisterna rnagna twice, and non-ionic iodinated contrast medium (Omnipaque 350 mgI/mL) was injected through posterior auricular central venous puncture at a dosage of 2.6mL/kg weight. High pressure syringe was used at an injection speed of 0.4 mL/s and CT scan began with a delay time of 15 seconds. BA of the rabbit underwent MSCTA by GE Lightspeed pro CT scanner with imaging workstation ADW 4.3 edition. Source images were adopted by volume rendering (VR). Results: MSCTA of the rabbit BA were completed in 25 experiment rabbits, and the corresponding achievement ratio was 100%. The mean transverse diameter of basilar artery in the rabbits measured by VR was 1.30 mm. CVS occurred at day 1, and reached the peak at day 4. Basilar artery vasospasm was observed to have been improved moderately at day 11. Conclusions: MSCTA can directly demonstrate the BA of rabbit and was a new tool for evaluation in vivo animal models of CVS.