Microradiographic study of cerebral and ocular aneurysms in hypertensive rabbits.

Cerebral and ocular microaneurysms were produced in rabbits made hypertensive by surgically induced silk-turpentine perinephritis combined with contralateral nephrectomy 7 days later. The aneurysms distributed throughout the brain and iris were studied by microradiography; a few representative aneurysms selected from the microradiographs were studied histologically. The microradiographic findings and histological sections correlated well. Intracranial microaneurysms were multiple and frequently located in the basal ganglia and near the cortex. Arterial changes in the iris paralleled intracranial arterial changes in degree and type except for the addition of hemorrhage around some microaneurysms. The results of this study show the potential of microradiography and histological sections guided by microradiography for studying the natural history of hypertensive arterial lesions and support the contention that hypertension, microaneurysms and intracerebral hemorrhages are related.