Neural damage caused by cerebral hyperperfusion after arterial bypass surgery in a patient with moyamoya disease: case report.

OBJECTIVE AND

IMPORTANCE

The prognosis of cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome after vascular reconstructive surgery, including extracranial-intracranial arterial bypass, is not poor unless intracerebral hemorrhage develops secondary to hyperperfusion.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 48-year-old man with symptomatic moyamoya disease with misery perfusion in the right cerebral hemisphere underwent double right superficial temporal artery-to-middle cerebral artery bypasses. The postoperative course was uneventful until the patient developed headache and agitated delirium on the 4th postoperative day.

INTERVENTION: Perfusion computed tomographic imaging demonstrated hyperperfusion in the right temporal lobe. The symptoms resolved by institution of intensive blood pressure control. Positron emission tomography performed 2 months after surgery demonstrated a postoperative reduction of the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen in the right temporal lobe, where brain atrophy was observed on magnetic resonance images 3 months postoperatively. Neuropsychological testing performed 3 months postoperatively showed worsening digit span, which adversely affected the patient's quality of life.

CONCLUSION

The current case suggests that cerebral hyperperfusion after vascular reconstructive surgery can cause irreversible neural damage, which results in cognitive impairment.