Postmortem MRI changes of the brains of the rats of different ages.
Brain degenerative changes were studied in the rats of different ages after cervical dislocation by T(2) MRI and histology. Appearance of dark spots in the T(2) images increased with increased duration after death. Quantitative analysis of the density of these spots revealed that the neonatal (1 week) and the old (9 months) animals had accelerated degenerative changes when compared with the young adult (1 month). The degenerative changes correlated with the accumulation of vacuoles or spaces in the brain tissue histologically. This study pointed out not only brain degenerative changes after death were associated with age, it also revealed that the MRI T(2) evaluations could be used as a way in postmortem investigation.
Department of Anatomy, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
Jie
J
Xu
Yan
Y
Zou
Li-Hong
LH
Zhang
Maria Sen Mun
MS
Wai
Hsiang-Fu
HF
Kung
Zhen-Ying
ZY
Ge
David T
DT
Yew
D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001329:Autolysis / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D019581:Neuropil / Q000473:pathology; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000473:pathology