The effects of a butanediol treatment on acute focal cerebral ischemia assessed by quantitative diffusion and T2 MR imaging

Increased water T2 values indicates the presence of vasogenic edema. Decreased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps reveal ischemic areas displaying cytotoxic edema. ADC and T2 abnormalities spread through the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory up to 24 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Also, it was found that ADC and T2 contours closely match at 3.5 and 24 h. Since butanediol reduces vasogenic edema and improves energy status in various models of ischemia, we used these two techniques to investigate putative improvements in cytotoxic and vasogenic edema after permanent MCAO performed on rats. Rats were given no treatment (n = 8), or a treatment with 25 mmol/kg intraperitoneal (i.p.) butanediol (n = 5), 30 min before and 2.5 h after MCAO. Quantitative ADC and T2 maps of brain water were obtained, from which the volumes presenting abnormalities were calculated at various time points up to 24 h. Effects of butanediol on the ADC and T2 values in these areas were determined. Butanediol reduced neither the ADC volume nor the initial ADC decline. However, it reduced T2 volumes by 32% at 3.5 h and 15% at 24 h (p < 0.05), and reduced T2 increase in the striatum at 3.5 h post-MCAO. Therefore, our results show for the first time that a pharmacological agent such as butanediol can delay the development of vasogenic edema but does not limit the development of vasogenic edema but does not limit the development of cytotoxic edema. ADC imaging detects areas of severe metabolic disturbance but not moderately ischemic peripheral areas where butanediol is presumed to be more efficacious.

Spreading of vasogenic edema and cytotoxic edema assessed by quantitative diffusion and T2 magnetic resonance imaging

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water should be sensitive to the cytotoxic edema triggered by energy failure during ischemia. Elevated values of T2. the nuclear MR transverse relaxation time of water, seen on T2 nuclear MR images detect vasogenic edema and infarcted areas. The temporal and spatial changes in ADC and T2 abnormalities after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCAO) were therefore estimated by these two quantitative techniques.

METHODS

Permanent MCAO was performed on rats. Quantitative ADC and T2 maps of brain water were obtained, from which the ischemic volumes were calculated at various times up to 48 hours after MCAO.

RESULTS

The areas of decreased ADC represented 36 +/- 7% of the final infarct volume (24 hours) at 0.5 hours and 64 +/- 4% at 5 hours after MCAO, suggesting that there is recruitment of peripheral areas with disturbed energy metabolism and cytotoxic edema. The ADC and T2 contours closely matched at 3.5, 24, and 48 hours after MCAO.

CONCLUSIONS

T2 imaging can assess ischemic insults as well as ADC imaging, but only 3.5 hours after the onset of ischemia. Assessment of edematous swelling (approximately 24.5% of total infarcted volume) demonstrates that ADC and therefore T2 imaging detect all the tissue that will become infarcted approximately 7 hours after occlusion. The spread of ADC and T2 abnormalities would therefore stop at approximately 7 hours, and any further increase in volume observed on the images would be mainly due to edematous swelling.