Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry-A novel method to quantify blood volume in experimental models of intracerebral hemorrhage

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 10% of all strokes and has a significantly higher mortality than cerebral ischemia. For decades, ICH has been neglected by experimental stroke researchers. Recently, however, clinical trials on acute blood pressure lowering or hyperacute supplementation of coagulation factors in ICH have spurred an interest to also design and improve translational animal models of spontaneous and anticoagulant-associated ICH. Hematoma volume is a substantial outcome parameter of most experimental ICH studies. We present graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometric analysis (AAS) as a suitable method to precisely quantify hematoma volumes in rodent models of ICH.