The Stanford Moyamoya Center offers a highly experienced group of professionals who see several new moyamoya patients each week. Since 1991, the Moyamoya Team, including neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuro-radiologists, neuro-anesthesiologists, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, technologists, scheduling coordinators, office and clinic staff have enthusiastically worked with patients and families who travel to the Bay Area from all over the world. The team approach we offer to patients and families is one of the main reasons patients feel they receive such excellent care.

Although initially thought to be limited to the Asian population, moyamoya is now known to affect people from all races and ethnicities. The pie chart below shows data of patients treated at the Stanford Moyamoya Center.

One of the rarest forms of occlusive cerebrovascular disorders encountered in neurosurgery is moyamoya disease. Fragile blood vessels proliferate around a blocked artery trying to bypass an occlusion. Their appearance on a cerebral angiogram resembles a "puff of smoke" or "moyamoya," a term coined by a Japanese team who first described the disease. It can affect both children and adults usually with symptoms of TIAs, strokes, headaches and seizures. There is no effective drug treatment for moyamoya disease. Endovascular treatment such as angioplasty and/or stent has been shown to be ineffective because of the progressive nature of the disease. Surgery is aimed at bypassing the blockage with another artery to restore normal blood flow. Dr. Steinberg has performed over 2,400 of these revascularization procedures for moyamoya, making his case experience with this disease one of the largest in the world.

Click image below to enlarge or download as a PDF