Autoradiographic patterns of brain interstitial fluid flow after collagenase-induced haemorrhage in rat.

Cerebral oedema accompanies intracerebral haemorrhage. We induced intracranial bleeding by the intracerebral injection of bacterial collagenase. There was oedema observed both at the haematoma site in the caudate/putamen and bilaterally in the hippocampal regions. To determine the role of vasogenic oedema spread from the site of injury, we studied by autoradiography the distribution of extracellular markers injected along with the collagenase. Both 14C-dextran (m.w. 70,000) and 14C-sucrose (m.w. 341) spread away from the injection site into both hippocampal regions in a similar pattern, suggesting bulk flow. Vasogenic oedema secondary to a haemorrhagic lesion in the caudate/putamen is an important cause of the oedema observed in both hippocampal regions in our model.