Selective lenticulostriate occlusion in the primate. A highly focal cerebral ischemia model.

A highly reliable model for the study of focal cerebral ischemia has been developed using a retro-orbital approach to occlude the lateral lenticulostriate arteries of the baboon. An infarction of the caudate, putamen and the anterior limb of the internal capsule has consistently been produced. Reliability has been attained because the anatomical variations of the lenticulostriate arteries of each animal can be fully appraised, permitting selective vessel occlusion. A well-defined clinical and radiographic lesion has also resulted from this procedure which was clinically well tolerated by all animals. Selective lenticulostriate occlusion provides a new approach to the study of focal cerebral ischemia in the sub-human primate, and serves for the evaluation of proposed therapies for treatment of focal cerebral ischemia.