%0 Journal Article
%T Histological Quantification of Angiogenesis after Focal Cerebral Infarction: A Systematic Review
%A Wai Yin Leung
%A Matthew B. Jensen
%J ISRN Neurology
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/853737
%X Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of disability, and current treatments to improve recovery are limited. Part of the natural recovery process after brain injury is angiogenesis. The formation of new blood vessels around the infarct appears to be important for restoration of adequate perfusion to allow for healing of brain tissue. Many potential restorative treatments may affect, and be affected by, angiogenesis, so accurate quantification of this outcome is needed. We performed a systematic review of histological methods to quantify angiogenesis after cerebral infarction. We found reports of the use of a variety of histological and general and immunostaining techniques in conjunction with a variety of analysis methods. We found no direct comparison studies and concluded that more research is needed to optimize the assessment of this important stroke outcome. 1. Introduction Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of disability, with few effective treatments available to improve recovery. Most ischemic stroke patients experience some degree of spontaneous recovery, but the natural processes leading to this recovery are unclear [1]. The formation of new blood vessels around the infarcted brain tissue, termed angiogenesis, appears to be important in restoring adequate perfusion to these healing areas [2]. Many aspects of angiogenesis and its contribution to stroke recovery are still unclear, and many potential restorative treatments may affect, and be affected by, angiogenesis; therefore, accurate quantification of this important tissue outcome is needed. We sought to review the available evidence for histological methods of quantification of angiogenesis after cerebral infarction. 2. Methods We searched PubMed in May 2012 with the search terms histolog* AND angiogenesis AND stroke OR cerebral infarct* and Google Scholar with the search terms histology, angiogenesis, stroke, and cerebral infarction. We included full-text articles in English published prior to May 2012 of unique experiments describing a histological method for quantification of angiogenesis after cerebral infarction. We excluded abstracts and articles citing methods found in other articles if no modifications were described. Titles, abstracts, or full articles were reviewed to determine if each search result matched our selection criteria. We also reviewed the references of the selected articles for additional matching articles. 3. Results The PubMed search returned 453 results, of which two met our selection criteria; we found one additional matching article in the references of the selected
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.neurology/2013/853737/