Treatments for Moyamoya

Treatments

Surgery for moyamoya disease is offered to prevent neurologic deterioration from strokes. Two types of surgical approaches are offered for patients with moyamoya: direct and indirect revascularization.
 

Direct revascularization

A surgical procedure in which a branch of a scalp artery is connected to a branch of the brain artery on the outer surface of the brain, providing immediate improvement in blood supply to the brain.

 

Indirect revascularization

Various indirect surgical methods to provide more blood flow to the brain include EDAS, EMS and Omental-Cerebral Transposition

 

Encephalo-duro-arterio-synangiosis (EDAS)

A procedure that uses a branch of temporal artery, which is laid directly on the surface of the brain without making a direct connection, to form a new blood supply.
 

Encephalo-myo-synangiosis (EMS)

An indirect bypass operation in which the temporalis muscle is dissected and then placed on the surface of the brain to form a new blood supply to develop from the transposed muscle.
 

Omental-Cerebral Transposition

A surgical procedure in which the blood-rich lining surrounding the organs in the abdomen is laid on the surface of the brain, which allows new blood vessels to develop and grow into the brain. 

 

Post-operative care

Moyamoya surgical procedures requires approximately three days of hospitalization. Post-operatively, patients experience some minor scalp pain from the incision, and some patients may get headaches. Patients with moyamoya have minimal restrictions after surgery.

Learn more about Moyamoya

Read our Moyamoya publications

Moyamoya Center

The Stanford Moyamoya Center offers a highly experienced group of professionals who see several new moyamoya patients each week, making Stanford the largest moyamoya referral center in the world.