Immature mouse unilateral carotid ligation model of stroke.

Cerebral palsy in humans results from a diverse group of disorders that produce nonprogressive motor impairments in the developing brain. Stroke is an important cause of hemiparetic cerebral palsy in neonates and young children. We recently developed a new immature mouse model of stroke that demonstrates seizures, the severity of which correlates with brain injury. This model has strengths compared with other immature rodent models of ischemic injury, such as relative technical ease and the presence of seizures, as is seen in humans. This model also has relative weaknesses, such as the inability to titrate the severity of the injury with different periods of hypoxia. In addition, more work is needed to delineate the long-term consequences of the insult in this new model.