Ischemia and revascularization of the middle cerebral territory of the rat brain by manipulation of the blood vessels in the neck.

Ischemia of the middle cerebral territory in the rat brain has been produced by anastomosing the right common carotid artery to the right jugular vein, and occluding the left internal and common carotid arteries. Revascularization is performed by ligating the right common carotid artery distal to the arteriovenous anastomosis and removing the clips from the left carotid arteries. The majority of the rats made ischemic deteriorated progressively and died if revascularization was not carried out, but only 10% of them died if the operation was performed within one hour, although the rate rose to 90% if the operation was delayed for 4 hours.