Assessment of ischaemic damage and haemorrhagic transformation

Ischaemic damage was measured on coronal brains sections stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), with infarct volume calculated by measuring the areas of neuronal loss at eight defined coronal levels as previously described.³⁷ On each section, damage was measured over the entire ipsilateral hemisphere, and also specifically in the cortex, striatum and ‘other’ areas (hippocampus and thalamus). To quantify haemorrhagic transformation, the area of red blood cells was measured in the same sections used to calculate ischaemic damage.