Animal model of TIA: an experimental study with intracarotid ADP infusion in rabbits

Adenosine diphosphate (8 mg per minute for five minutes) was infused into the carotid artery of 63 rabbits. The effects were twofold: systemic hypotension and platelet aggregation in the cerebral circulation. As a consequence of the last effect, platelet emboli were produced which occluded cerebral arteries in a number and size sufficient to cause cerebral ischemia. Areas of focal ischemia were observed through a cranial window, and documented with antipyrine autoradiography. Platelet thrombi were almost entirely transient, being fragmented and removed within a very short time of cessation of ADP infusion. Consequently, no permanent tissue damage ensued. This experimental model approaches the spontaneous transient ischemia attacks (TIAs) in man, demonstrating that these can be caused by pure platelet emboli. A high cholesterol diet administered for two months prior to ADP infusion did not enhance the effect of the procedure or make the platelet aggregation and the following ischemia longer in duration or more severe.