Neurophysiological monitoring, magnetic resonance imaging, and histological assays confirm the beneficial effects of moderate hypothermia after epidural focal mass lesion development in rodents

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of moderate intraischemic hypothermia on neurophysiological parameters in an epidural balloon compression model in rats and to correlate the results with magnetic resonance imaging and histological findings. METHODS: Neurophysiological monitoring included laser Doppler flow, tissue partial oxygen pressure, and intracranial pressure measurements and electroencephalographic assessments during balloon expansion, sustained inflation, and reperfusion. Moderate intraischemic cooling of animals was extended throughout the reperfusion period, and results were compared with those for normothermic animals. Moreover, histological morphometric and magnetic resonance imaging volumetric analyses of the lesions were performed. RESULTS: Laser Doppler flow decreased slightly during ischemia (P < 0.05) in animals treated with hypothermia, and flow values demonstrated complete reperfusion, compared with incomplete flow restoration in untreated animals (P < 0.05). During ischemia, the tissue partial oxygen pressure was less than 4.3 mm Hg in both groups. After reperfusion, values returned to the normal range in both groups, but the tissue partial oxygen pressure in hypothermic animals was significantly higher (P = 0.042) and demonstrated 19% higher values, compared with normothermic animals, before rewarming. Moderate hypothermia attenuated a secondary increase in intracranial pressure (P < 0.05), and electroencephalographic findings indicated a trend toward faster recovery (P > 0.05) after reperfusion. Lesion size was reduced by 35% in magnetic resonance imaging volumetric evaluations and by 24.5% in histological morphometric analyses. CONCLUSION: Intraischemic hypothermia improves cerebral microcirculation, attenuates a secondary increase in intracranial pressure, facilitates electroencephalographic recovery, and reduces the lesion size.