Cerebral blood flow and cognitive decline in moyamoya disease

An analysis of data from patients with moyamoya disease (MMD) suggests an association between cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cognitive decline, and a potential role of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-like pathology.
In this cohort, CBF was significantly reduced relative to that in healthy controls, whereas phosphorylated tau181 was elevated and associated with hypoperfusion accumulation. Cognitive testing revealed lower scores among people with MMD than controls.
Following revascularization, MMD patients experienced increased CBF in the recipient brain territories and improved cognitive performance, but no significant change in AD biomarkers.