Measurement of cerebral infarction edema with sodium-22

Sodium 22 was used to determine quantitatively cerebral infarction edema in cats after occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. A comparison was made of the sodium 22 edema determination with the wet weight-dry weight method of edema determination. There was a high degree of correlation between the two methods. The sodium 22 method of measuring cerebral infarction edema was less time consuming and easier than the wet weight-dry weight method, and served as a reliable means of quantitatively comparing the edema content in the hemispheres of animals with stroke.