Post-stroke seizures are associated with worsened outcome following stroke, but the underlying pathophysiology is poorly understood. Here I combined behavioral, electrophysiological and histological assessments to examine acute seizures in adult mice following hypoxia-ischemia (HI). C57BL/6 mice aged 4-9 months received a permanent occlusion of the right common carotid artery and were then exposed to systemic hypoxia (8% O2, ~30 minutes). The HI episode resulted in decreases in cerebral blood flow, suppression of EEG activities and extensive brain injury in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the carotid artery occlusion. Generalized motor seizures were observed within 72 hours following HI. These seizures occurred nearly exclusively in animals with the extensive ipsilateral brain injury, but their generation was not associated with EEG discharges in bilateral hippocampal and cortical areas. Animals exhibiting these seizures had a high rate of mortality. Post-HI treatments with diazepam and phenytoin suppressed these motor seizures and improved post-HI animal survival. Based on these data, I conclude that these seizures are a consequence of HI brain injury, contribute to mortality following HI, and that they may originate from deep subcortical structures.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/31741 |
| Date | 06 January 2012 |
| Creators | El-Hayek, Youssef Hanna |
| Contributors | Carlen, Peter Louis |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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