This is a 55 year old female with right sided moyamoya disease, which is caused by blocked arteries at the base of the brain. Moyamoya means “puff of smoke” in Japanese, and describes the appearance of the tangle of tiny vessels which form to compensate for the blocked arteries.

This patient has been treated by creating a bypass from the Superficial Temporal Artery (STA), outside the skull to the right Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA), inside the skull.

In this procedure, the temporal artery, which normally supplies blood to the scalp is rerouted through an opening in the skull, and connected to the middle cerebral artery, which supplies blood to the brain. This effectively bypasses the blocked arteries caused by the moyamoya disease.

The images shown here are created from a CT scan done after the surgery. Stanford 3DQ Lab’s technologists use specialized post processing software to display images of the brain’s blood supply. This allows the physicians to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment, and monitor any progression of the disease.