Infratentorial ischaemia following experimental cerebellar haemorrhage in the rat

Early changes of cerebellar and cerebral blood flow, as well as subsequent infratentorial ischaemia, were evaluated in an experimental model of cerebellar haemorrhage. Eight anaesthetized male adult Sprague-Dawley rats received an injection of autologous arterial blood (50 microliters) into the right cerebellar hemisphere. Eight animals were sham-operated and served as controls. Cerebellar blood flow, measured at regular time intervals in the hemispheric cortex ipsilateral to the lesion by the hydrogen clearance method, was significantly depressed in the experimental group as compared with the control animals. This drop in cerebellar blood flow was evident 5, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min postoperatively, with a return to pre-injection values recorded 180 min after surgery. No significant difference in supratentorial blood flow was detected over the entire period examined between the two groups of animals. Enzyme histochemistry demonstrated areas of ischaemia around the clot and within the brain stem in animals with an intracerebellar haemorrhage at the end of the experiment. These results provided evidence of ischaemic damage within the infratentorial compartment after the induction of experimental cerebellar haemorrhage.