Postoperative change of neuropsychological function after indirect revascularization in childhood moyamoya disease: a correlation with cerebral perfusion study

Purpose: The relationships between postoperative functional improvement in various cognitive domains and regional hemodynamic change have not been sufficiently studied in childhood moyamoya disease (MMD). The present study aimed to examine the cognitive benefit of indirect revascularization, the underlying biological mechanism, and factors affecting surgical outcome in childhood MMD. Methods: Twenty-three patients with MMD aged under 20 years received neuropsychological examinations before and after indirect revascularization surgery, evaluating intellectual function, verbal and visual memory, and executive function. Among them, 13 patients had magnetic resonance perfusion (MRP) studies, in which regional cerebral perfusion was rated. Results: Postoperative improvement was observed in verbal memory performances (p = 0.02–0.03) and in cerebral perfusion at all 26 cerebral hemispheres (p = 0.003–0.005), especially in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) territories (p = 0.001–0.003). Hemodynamic improvement in the left MCA territories was significantly correlated with improvement of both verbal new learning (p = 0.01) and intellectual function (p = 0.004). Postoperative cognitive improvement of immediate recall and verbal intellectual function was associated with female sex (r = − 0.42) and symptom duration (p = − 0.03), respectively. Hemodynamic improvement in the MCA territories was related to longer follow-up intervals (p = 0.02). Conclusion: The findings revealed that the selective postoperative cognitive improvement was associated with increased regional perfusion in the MCA territories, and indicate the importance of early intervention and the potential of indirect revascularization regarding long-term outcome.