BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The severity of Moyamoya disease is generally scaled with conventional angiography and nuclear medicine. Arterial spin-labeling MR imaging is now acknowledged for the noninvasive quantification of cerebral blood flow. This study aimed to analyze CBF modifications with statistical parametric mapping of arterial spin-labeling MR imaging in children undergoing an operation for Moyamoya disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We included 15 children treated by indirect cerebral revascularization with multiple burr-holes between 2011 and 2013. Arterial spin-labeling MR imaging and T1 sequences were then analyzed under SPM8, according to the general linear model, before and after the operation (3 and 12 months). Voxel-based analysis was performed at the group level, comparing all diseased hemispheres with all normal hemispheres and, at the individual level, comparing each patient with a control group.

RESULTS

Group analysis showed statistically significant preoperative hypoperfusion in the MCA territory in the Moyamoya hemispheres and a significant increase of cerebral perfusion in the same territory after revascularization (P < .05 family-wise error–corrected). Before the operation, individual analysis showed significant hypoperfusion for each patient co-localized with the angiographic defect on DSA. All except 1 patient had improvement of CBF after revascularization, correlated with their clinical status.

CONCLUSIONS

SPM analysis of arterial spin-labeling MR imaging offers a noninvasive evaluation of preoperative cerebral hemodynamic impairment and an objective assessment of postoperative improvement in children with Moyamoya disease.

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