Subarachnoid hemorrhage in the rat: cerebral blood flow and glucose metabolism during the late phase of cerebral vasospasm.

A double-isotope technique for the simultaneous measurement of CBF and CMRglu was applied to a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) model in the rat. Cisternal injection of 0.07 ml blood caused a rather uniform 20% reduction in CBF together with an increase in glucose utilization of 30% during the late phase of vasospasm. In one-third of the SAH animals, there were focal areas where the flow was lowered to 30% of the control values and the glucose uptake increased to approximately 250% of control. We suggest that blood in the subarachnoid space via a neural mechanism induces the global flow and metabolic changes, and that the foci are caused by vasospasm superimposed on the global flow and metabolic changes. In the double-isotope autoradiographic technique, [14C]iodoantipyrine and [3H]deoxyglucose were used for CBF and CMRglu measurements, respectively, in the same animal. In half of the sections, the [14C]iodoantipyrine was extracted using 2,2-dimethoxypropane before the section was placed on a 3H- and 14C-sensitive film. The other sections were placed on x-ray film with an emulsion insensitive to 3H. The validity of the double-isotope method was tested by comparing the data with those obtained in animals receiving a single isotope. The CBF and metabolic values obtained in the two groups were similar.