Local Cerebral Hemodynamics after Superficial Temporal Artery-Middle Cerebral Artery Bypass in Patients with Symptomatic Carotid Occlusions

CONTEXT: Physiological insights into blood flow alterations in cortical vessels after superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) bypass surgery are important for the prognosis of bypass sustainability and hemodynamic patency. AIMS: This study aims to assess the impact of STA-MCA bypass on local hemodynamics for patients with symptomatic carotid occlusions and Moyamoya disease. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This article presents a prospective nonrandomized study of intraoperative blood flow measurements in cortical branches of MCA and donor vessel before and after cerebral revascularization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Evaluation of local hemodynamic parameters was established for 112 patients with symptomatic carotid occlusive disease and cerebrovascular insufficiency during STA-MCA bypass surgery. We used intraoperative Doppler ultrasonography (89 patients – 72%), flowmetry (56 cases – 50%), and in 33 cases both methods. For physical justification of observed facts, we performed computational simulation with OpenFOAM CFD framework using Navier-Stokes nonstationary hemodynamic model. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: All calculations were performed with IBM SPSS Statistics version 10.0 software. We used parametric (Z-test and Student's t-test) and nonparametric models (Wilcoxon, Mann–Whitney). For categorical values, we used Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: Local cerebral hemodynamics after revascularization surgery significantly depended on initial perfusion deficit and the ability of bypass to reverse the blood flow in proximal parts of cortical artery (86 cases, 77%). Mechanism of cortical blood flow alteration was related to donor vessel cut flow value and potential consumption threshold of acceptor artery. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of hemodynamic principles of flow redistribution after STA-MCA bypass is important to improve bypass stainability and leads to better revascularization results.