Fig. 4

Acute, subacute and chronic vascular hypoperfusion and disorganization in the brains of blast-exposed rats. Brain micro-CT coronal optical sections (3.75 mm thickness) of blast-exposed and control rats perfused with the Brite-Vu-contrasting agent and reconstructed with the Vesselucida 360 software. a 48 h post-blast; b 6 weeks post-blast; c 13 months post-blast; d–f 48 h-, 6 weeks- and 13 months sham controls, respectively. Optical sections a and d correspond approximately to coordinates interaural 4.06–7.56 mm; b and e to interaural 6.36–9.86 mm; c and f to interaural 4.06–7.56 mm [97]. Note hypoperfused areas in the brains of blast-exposed rats relative to controls. The arrow in a indicates hypoperfusion of the entire left hemispheric cortical and hippocampal areas. Affected areas in b include the somatosensory, visual, motor and retrosplenial cortical regions whose circulation is derived from branches of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). In c blast-induced cerebral disorganization includes focal tears across the amygdala and adjacent cortical regions (arrows), attenuation of arteries involved in posterior circulation (arrowhead) and hypoperfusion of cortical areas (*). Scale bar, 1.5 mm