Mechanism of the Re-buildup Phenomenon in Moyamoya Disease

Abstract

The authors investigated the mechanism of the re-buildup phenomenon on electroencephalogram in 14 patients of moyamoya disease with superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery anastomosis. Visualization of the lateral view of the common carotid angiography was performed with intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography (IA-DSA), using a 4/sec x 3 sec + 2/sec x 5 sec + 1/sec x 5 sec film sequence. The catheter tip was inserted into C5/6 level and 250 mgI/ml of iopamidol was used as the contrast agent; 6 ml in total was injected over 1.5 seconds. Circulation times of the common carotid artery (C3 portion)-ascending parietal vein (delta TTPs) and common carotid artery-internal cerebral vein (delta TTPD) were measured before hyperventilation (HV), immediately after HV, and 3 minutes after HV during pre- and postoperative periods. delta TTPD in the preoperative period was prolonged by HV and was normalized at 3 minutes after HV but delta TTPs were prolonged immediately after and 3 minutes after HV. In the postoperative period, however, these values did not change significantly immediately after and 3 minutes after HV. These findings indicate that delayed cerebral blood flow response to HV is a pathogenetic factor of the re-buildup phenomenon in moyamoya disease.