Cerebral revascularization using omental transplantation for childhood moyamoya disease

Between January, 1986, and October, 1990, 30 children with moyamoya disease, aged from 2 to 17 years, underwent omental transplantation to either the anterior or the posterior cerebral artery territory. The mean follow-up period was 3.8 years, ranging from 1.6 to 6.4 years. Seventeen patients had symptoms of monoparesis, paraparesis, and/or urinary incontinence and were treated using unilateral or bilateral omental transplantation to the anterior cerebral artery territory. Eleven patients had visual symptoms and were treated with unilateral or bilateral omental transplantation to the posterior cerebral artery territory. Two patients had symptoms associated with both the anterior and the posterior cerebral arteries, and were treated with dual omental transplantations. All 19 patients treated with omental transplantation to the anterior cerebral artery and 11 (84.6%) of the 13 treated with omental transplantation to the posterior cerebral artery showed improvement in their neurological state. Patients with more collateral vessels via the omentum had more rapid and complete improvement in their neurological state. Patients with severe preoperative neurological deficits associated with the posterior cerebral artery had persistence of their symptoms.