Gd-DTPA contrast-enhanced MRI images of ischemic brains treated with rhVEGF₁₆₅ at 1 hour after MCA occlusion (a and b) or 0.9% saline (d and e) and corresponding images of LSCM (c and f). Postcontrast images obtained at 30 minutes after injection of Gd-DTPA agent show the hyperintense areas in the ipsilateral MCA-supplied cortex and subcortex of a rat treated with rhVEGF₁₆₅ (b) and in the ipsilateral MCA-supplied subcortex of a rat treated with 0.9% saline (e), which are not seen on the precontrast images (a and d). Composite images of LSCM (80 μm thick) from the same locations exhibit extravasation of Evans blue and FITC-dextran in the cortex and subcortex from the rat treated with rhVEGF₁₆₅ (c) and extravasation of Evans blue in the subcortex from the rat treated with saline (f) and sacrificed 6 hours after MCA occlusion. High-magnification images of LSCM from the rat treated with rhVEGF₁₆₅ show that the extravasation of Evans blue (g, red) and FITC-dextran (g, green) was present in capillaries with nonplasma and low-plasma perfusion in the ipsilateral hemisphere (g) and that cerebral microvessels in the contralateral hemisphere were well perfused with both dyes and did not exhibit any extravasation of fluorescent dyes (h). Bar, 40 μm for g and h. Hyperintense areas on Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI are significantly (P < 0.05) larger in rhVEGF₁₆₅–treated rats (n = 5) than the saline-treated rats (n = 4) (i). Hyperintense areas were measured on Gd-DTPA–enhanced images obtained at 30 minutes after injection of Gd-DTPA agent, which was injected after 4 hours of infusion of rhVEGF₁₆₅ or saline.