ABSTRACT
This study examined the protective effect of dexamethansone following bilateral forebrain ischemia in a rat model of two-vessel occlusion. Twenty rats were subjected to dexamethasone (1 mg/kg intravenously) before bilateral common carotid artery occlusion for 10 minutes. Carotid artery blood flow was restored and the rats were terminated by a perfusion-fixation method after 7 days. Ten minutes of two-vessel occlusion produced cellular ischemic change in the cerebral hemispheres of most rats. This region was studied mainly with light microscope, and it was noticed that the CA 1 neuron in the hippocampus is the most vulnerable to ischemia. Ischemic neuronal damage was graded in accordance with conventional neuropathological criteria. The grade had no statistical significance.