Complexities, confounders, and challenges in experimental stroke research: A checklist for researchers and reviewers

Abstract

The quest for internal and external validity in experimental stroke research is fraught with pitfalls and confounders. This article, written as a checklist from the perspective of an editor and reviewer of articles on rodent stroke models and an active bench side stroke researcher, presents a compilation of the common pitfalls and quality issues in experimental stroke research. These include selecting controls for genetically modifi ed animals, effects of stroke on systemic parameters (immunodepression, infection, cachexia, etc.), cerebral blood fl ow measurement, brain edema correction, study design, statistics, and interpretation.