Figure 13

Advanced degenerative changes in blast-exposed microvessels. Panels A-C show cerebral microvessels from an animal that received three 74.5 kPa blast exposures and was sacrificed 24 hours later. Longitudinally cut microvessels from non-blast exposed control brains are shown in panels E and F. The lumens of the blast-exposed microvessels are irregular. In addition, examples of degenerative changes in perivascular cells are indicated by asterisks in panels A and C. In panel C, an abnormal bulge from the vessel wall is visible in the lumen (arrow). Despite the extensive degenerative changes in the microvessel architecture the surrounding neuropil appears normal. Scale bar: 3.5 μm A-B and D-E; 1 μm C.