The Efficacy of Single Barrel Superficial Temporal Artery-middle Cerebral Artery Bypass in Treatment of Adult Patients with Ischemic-type Moyamoya Disease

OBJECTIVE: So far, there is no study answering the question of which type of surgical technique is practically the most useful in the treatment of adult patients with ischemic type moyamoya disease (MMD). We evaluated the efficacy of single barrel superficial temporal artery (STA)-middle cerebral artery (MCA) bypass in the treatment of adult patients with ischemic type MMD by retrospectively collecting clinical and radiological data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review identified 31 adult patients who underwent 43 single barrel STA-MCA bypass procedures performed for treatment of ischemic-type MMD between 2006 and 2014. The male to female ratio was 17:14 and the mean age was 41 years (range, 21-65 years). Peri-operative complications, angiographic and clinical outcomes were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The permanent neurological morbidity and mortality rates were 2.3% and 0%, respectively. During the observation period of a mean of 35 months (range, 12-73 months), 29 patients (93.5%) had no further cerebrovascular events and transient ischemic attack occurred in two patients (6.5%), resulting in an annual stroke risk of 2.2%. Follow-up computed tomography perfusion (CTP) (mean, 18.4 months after surgery) documented improved cerebral hemodynamics in the revascularized hemispheres (p < 0.001). Post-operative patency was clearly verified in 38 bypasses (88.4%) of 43 bypasses on follow-up imaging (mean, 16.5 months). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that single barrel STA-MCA bypass with wide dural opening is safe and durable method of cerebral revascularization in adult patients with ischemic type MMD and can be considered as a potential treatment option for adult patients with ischemic type MMD.