Intracerebral hemorrhage is associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. The value of surgical therapy is under debate. The purposes of this study were to evaluate, in a rodent model of intracerebral hemorrhage, whether or not aspiration of the blood dot could improve final neurological outcome, and to evaluate whether or not transplantation of fetal forebrain tissue into the hematoma site would improve the final neurological outcome. Intracerebral hemorrhage was induced in rats by injection of bacterial collagenase into the caudate nucleus. In one group of rats streptokinase was then used to lyse the hematoma 4 hours after hemorrhage induction and the dot was then aspirated. In the transplant study, nine to twelve days after collagenase-induced intracerebral hemorrhage, embryonic day 14 fetal forebrain fragments were transplanted into the hematoma site. Behavioral function was repeatedly evaluated until the rats were sacrificed 7 weeks after collagenase injection in aspiration study, or 10 weeks after grafting. Histology was used to assess overall brain morphology, neuronal loss, astroglial proliferation, and survival of the grafts. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)