Imaging of regional metabolic activity by 18F-FDG/PET in rats with transient cerebral ischemia

Changes in regional metabolic activities induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) can influence patient outcome. Our aim was to demonstrate in a rat model that 18F-FDG with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is a quantitative, reproducible approach for identifying acute and sub-acute metabolic variations in infarct regions. We found that imaging with 18F-FDG/PET enabled detection and quantification of ischemia-induced metabolic deficits and provided a sensitive and reliable means of assessing cerebral ischemic lesions compared with conventional neurological scoring systems in rodents.