Moyamoya Disease Treatment | Bypass Surgery | MedStar Health

If you have been diagnosed with Moyamoya disease, you should be evaluated by a neurosurgeon who specializes in this disorder. At MedStar Health, our Moyamoya disease specialist will carefully evaluate you and counsel you about the safest and most effective treatment.

Vikram Nayar, MD, is one of a select few neurosurgeons in the mid-Atlantic region who has expertise in bypass surgery, the procedure used to treat this condition.

Bypass surgery at MedStar Health

Bypass surgery, otherwise known as cerebral revascularization, allows more blood to be delivered to the brain. This significantly reduces the risk of stroke.

Our Moyamoya disease specialist has expertise in the various kinds of bypass surgery and can determine the most appropriate one for you.

One such procedure involves the use of microsurgical technique (using a high-powered microscope and specialized tools) to connect and sew an artery of the scalp to an artery of the brain. This allows the scalp artery to deliver blood to the brain, improving blood flow to the brain and reducing the risk of strokes. The procedure is called the STA-MCA bypass (superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery bypass) or EC-IC bypass (extracranial to intracranial bypass).

STA-MCA bypass for Moyamoya disease

During the STA-MCA bypass surgery, or STA-MCA anastomosis, the neurosurgeon connects the open end of a scalp artery to the sidewall of a brain artery. These arteries are usually less than 2 millimeters in diameter. The connection is performed by placing tiny sutures that are thinner than a human hair.

At MedStar Health, we successfully perform this procedure with expert microsurgical techniques and state-of-the-art specialized technology.

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Neurosurgeon examining x-ray scans of senior patient

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Getting the care you need starts with seeing one of our neurosurgeons