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Treatment of moyamoya disease by multipoint skull drilling for indirect revascularization combined with mobilization of autologous bone marrow stem cells

Author(s): R. Wu, N. Su, Z. Zhang and F. Jia

This study discusses the clinical efficacy of multipoint skull drilling for indirect revascularization combined with mobilization of autologous bone marrow stem cells and use of simvastatin in the treatment of moyamoya disease. Seventy-eight patients [control group (group A), 39 patients; experimental group (group B), 39 patients] with moyamoya disease were selected. Group A underwent indirect revascularization, and group B, in addition to indirect revascularization, received alternate subcutaneous injections from day 7 post-surgery. The number and differentiation of the mobilized bone marrow stem cells were detected by the proportion of hematopoietic progenitor cell (HPCs) in mononuclear cells (MNCs) in the peripheral blood. There was no statistical difference in the BI (80.2 ± 13.7) and NIHSS (6.7 ± 2.3) scores between the groups before treatment (P > 0.05). The CSSscore of group B was 13.5 ± 0.6 and there was a statistical significance compared to group A (18.2 ± 0.8) (P < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the proportion of CD34+ CDl33+ cells in MNCs in peripheral blood before surgery between the two groups (P > 0.05) and the proportions of CD34+ CDl33+ cells in MNCs in peripheral blood in groups A and B at 30 days after surgery were significantly higher than those before surgery (P < 0.05). Treating moyamoya disease by multipoint skull drilling for indirect revascularization combined with mobilization of autologous bone marrow stem cells and simvastatin is a safe and effective method as it can promote recovery of neurological functions and improve patients’ daily living abilities and quality of life.