yoki wrote on Feb 23rd, 2004 at 2:35pm:I wanted to know if there were any MM who have not had the surgery and just on Meds alone? What happens if you don't get the surgery and only treat your MM with medication?
Hi Yoki,
A thorough evaluation of the blood flow pattern in the brain is essential to developing a treatment plan for each patient. A quote from Dr. Scott, a leading specialist on mm says about your question: "All patients with moyamoya syndrome have
progressive narrowing of their brain blood vessels over time, and I have never seen an exception to this rule after many years of studying these patients.
Along with this progressive narrowing of the brain blood vessels, the patient's clinical condition will worsen also; this is why surgery to increase the brain's borderline blood supply is so important. Certain medications can be very helpful in the treatment of the symptoms of mm. It is important to understand, however, that
no medications prevent the arterial narrowing process from progressing or keep the moyamoya vessels from developing, and I firmly believe that surgery is the mainstay of treatment for the syndrome."
From my family's experience and many here on the boards, the result was massive strokes and much more. That's the risk without surgery with this serious disease.
Good Luck!
Mar