Lesion patterns of 72 cases of hemorrhagic type of moyamoya disease

Abstract

Objective To study the lesion patterns of hemorrhagic type of moyamoya disease (MMD) in adults. Methods Seventy-two consecutive cases of hemorrhagic type of MMD, confirmed by digital cerebral angiography in Jinling hospital between January 2004 and February 2010, were retrieved from the Nanjing Stroke Registry Program. MMD patients were classified according to the hemorrhagic sites into 4 types: non-thalamic parenchymal, thalamic, primary ventricular and subarachnoid. The ipsilateral anterior choroidal artery and posterior communicating artery (AChA-PComA) were evaluated by the modified Morioka's 3-points grading system: normal or mild to moderate dilation, severe dilation with abnormal extension and non-visualization. The relationship between lesion patterns and the angiographic findings was analyzed. Results In the stage of normal or mild to moderate dilation of AChA-PComA, non-thalamic parenchymal hemorrhage was the more frequent type (51.6%, 16/31 ;Z = -3.266,P =0.001 ), and there was a high incidence of intrastriatal hemorrhage occurred (22.6%, 7/31 ). In the stage of severe dilation with abnormal extension, intraventricular hemorrhage was most common ( 58.8%, 20/34 ;Z = -2.696 ,P =0.008). In addition, posterior circulation subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) was associated with a higher grade of AChA-PComA than anterior circulation SAH (Z = -4.655 ,P ＜ 0.01 ). Furthermore, posterior circulation SAH was the only type of SAH in the stage of non-visualization(9.7% ,7/72; x2 =42.999,P ＜0.01 ). Conclusion In adult patients with MMD, different subtypes of hemorrhagic stroke were associated with angiographic changes of AChA-PComA, and the angiographic characteristics may predict the location of hemorrhage. Key words: Moyamoya disease; Cerebral hemorrhage; Cerebral angiography