MRI and MRA Diagnosis of Moyamoya Disease in Children

Objective To evaluate MRI and MRA in the diagnosis of moyamoya disease in children.Materials and Methods Both MRI and MRA findings in 11 children, aged 3.5～14 years, with moyamoya disease were reviewed. Axial T 1WI and T 2WI were adopted for MRI, while 3D TOF was used for MRA. Enhanced MRA was carried out in 2 cases.Results MRI showed signal void sign of the following vessels as well as other lesions: (1) terminal ICA, ACA, MCA, BA and PCA (11/11); (2) compensatory dilated perforating artery in cerebral parenchyma (11/11), especially obvious at both basal ganglia and thalamus areas; (3) small vessels around MCA and PCA (11/11); (4) accompanied cerebral infarction (9/11) and atrophy (3/11); (5) dilated leptomeningeal vessel on FLAIR image. MRA could more directly display the vascular stenosis and occlusion, as well as the dilated ophthalmic artery, ECA branches and PCA. Due to phase lost and saturation effect, vascular stenosis and occlusion could be over evaluated.Conclusion MRI findings can suggest the diagnosis of the disease, and definite diagnosis can be usually made if combined with MRA.