Children with persistent headaches may have Moyamoya disease.

Recently, the headache became more severe, accompanied by weakness on the left side of the body, so the girl had to go to Children's Hospital 2. MRI resultsMultiple small lesions were found scattered on both sides, along with stenosis of the carotid artery in the baby's skull.

Another 6-year-old girl in District 9, Ho Chi Minh City, was hospitalized for weakness on her right side. A few months ago, she experienced weakness on her right side when she exerted herself, but it recovered on its own, so her family did not pay attention. This time, the doctor examined her and discovered that sheleft parietal cerebral infarction, with stenosis of the internal carotid artery, forebrain, and middle brain on both sides.

Doctor Nguyen Ngoc Pi Doanh, Department of Neurosurgery, Children's Hospital 2 said these are two of the children diagnosed with the disease.Moyamoya.

Moyamoya is a rare cerebrovascular disease characterized by progressive stenosis of the intracranial carotid artery and the proximal anterior cerebral artery to the middle cerebral artery. The disease progresses over time, particularly in children, and is more rapid than in adults.

According to Dr. Pi Doanh, the disease occurs at all ages, women are twice as likely to get the disease as men. The most common age in children is from 5 to 9 years old.Most children are hospitalized with symptoms of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attacks.

In children, the disease often starts after strenuous activities.In younger children, feeding, fussing or coughing can also cause brain damage or strokes. Other symptoms include headaches, dizziness, seizures...

As the disease progresses, the brain's need for blood supply becomes increasingly inadequate, causing multiple strokes if not treated promptly. Each stroke causes irreversible damage to the brain, leading to increasingly severe neurological deficits and even death.

Over the years, Children’s Hospital 2 has treated about 30 Moyamoya patients. The children were evaluated, their brain blood vessels examined, and then operated on to create a new blood supply to the brain.

Follow-up showed that many postoperativeThe child no longer has recurrent ischemic strokes, and re-examination of the cerebral blood vessels shows very good communication from the outside to the inside of the brain, supplying blood to the brain. In some cases, due to late treatment, the damage from the previous stroke is too severe, so after surgery there are still neurological sequelae.

"Early diagnosis and treatment play a very important role in preventing strokes and brain damage, avoiding neurological sequelae and improving quality of life," Dr. Doanh recommended.