Universal Bypass for Treatment of Symptomatic Moyamoya Disease or Moyamoya Syndrome. Analysis of a Personal Case Series on Behalf of the Italian Moyamoya Association.

BACKGROUND

Moyamoya (MM) is a very rare cerebrovascular disease, particularly in Caucasians. We describe the results of an Italian case series where the mainstay of treatment was a bypass or a combined approach.

METHODS

An analysis of a prospectively collected database was carried out. The main objective was to investigate (1) the risk of perioperative stroke and surgical complications, (2) the risk of new ischemic events, and (3) the risk of new hemorrhages at follow-up (mean follow-up: 2.2 years).

RESULTS

Between January 2011 and January 2015 we carried out 34 bypasses in 23 patients with MM (15 MM disease, 5 unilateral MM, 3 MM syndrome); mean age was 34 (range:1-57). The mortality and definitive morbidity rates were 0 %. Two patients suffered from transient aphasia and one developed partial palsy of the facial nerve. Five of the 12 patients with preoperative fixed deficits improved. No patient with preoperative ischemia experienced new ischemic symptoms. Rebleeding occurred in 1 of the 11 patients with a hemorrhagic presentation (9 %).

CONCLUSIONS

The bypass/combined approach to MM appears to have a favorable risk profile and preventive effectiveness, particularly on TIAs and ischemic stroke.