Moyamoya disease

Moyamoya disease involves blocked arteries located in the basal ganglia, located in the lower portion of the brain. Moyamoya disease was first found in Japan but recently in the past fourty years has been documented in the United States. It is most commonly found in children, however it can occur in adults. Since the disease is seen most common in children, it is a possibility that it is a genetic disease. Basically it causes strokes or trasient ischemic attacks (mini strokes) to occur in the brain.

There are symptoms that occur with this disease. These symptoms include aphasia, involuntary movements, sensory impairments, altered level of consciousness, vision difficulties, and cognitive impairments. When reviewing these symptoms, they are similar to those of strokes. However when they are occuring a lot and in children, it is most likely that they will be diagnosed as having moyamoya disease. They will continue to have these symptoms until they are properly treated.

Proper treatment for moyamoya diseaes would be surgery. Surgery would include bypass surgery of the blocked arteries or possibly a different way in order to restore the blood flow. On the positive side, children respond better to revascularization surgeries than adults do. If the patient does not receive surgery, than chances are they will remain having these mini strokes until the arteries are properly unblocked.

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Information: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/moyamoya/moyamoya.htm

Images: http://radiology.rsnajnls.org/cgi/content-nw/full/223/2/384/F1A

http://www.medscape.com/content/2003/00/45/12/451261/art-nf451261.fig4.jpg