To explore the correlation between the MCA stenosis and the CSO-EPVS in patients with MMD and whether brain atrophy plays a mediating role.
Moyamoya disease (MMD) is a nonatherosclerotic cerebrovascular structural abnormality. Previous studies have found that central semiovale Enlarged enlarged perivascular spaces (CSO-EPVS) are associated with decreased regional cerebral blood flow in MMD patients, but the specific mechanism remains unclear.
177 patients from 2017 to 2022 were consecutively enrolled in this single-center Moyamoya disease cohort. All 354 MCAs were divided into three groups according to the severity of MCA on the MRA: no stenosis, mild or moderate stenosis, and severe stenosis or occlusion. The correlation between cerebral hemisphere volume, MCA stenosis and CSO-EPVS was analyzed, and the confounding factors including age, gender and hypertension were adjusted.
MCA stenosis was significantly associated with CSO-EPVS (no stenosis vs mild or moderate stenosis: 95%CI [0.954, 4.473], P=0.000; no stenosis vs severe stenosis or occlusion: 95%CI [4.419, 9.586], P=0.000). Cerebral hemisphere volume was correlated with CSO-EPVS (no stenosis vs mild or moderate stenosis: 95%CI [-0.824, 0.414], P=0.047; no stenosis vs severe stenosis or occlusion: 95%CI [-1.051, 4.431], P=0.018), but there was no significant correlation between MCA stenosis and the hemisphere volume (no stenosis vs mild or moderate stenosis: 95%CI [-0.097, 0.123], P=0.434; no stenosis vs. severe stenosis or occlusion: 95%CI [-1.012, 1.210], P=0.403). Mediating variable analysis showed that hemisphere volume had no mediating effect in the correlation between the MCA stenosis and CSO-EPVS (no stenosis vs mild or moderate stenosis: 95%CI [-0.039, 0.329], P=0.910; no stenosis vs severe stenosis or occlusion: 95%CI [-0.118, 0.106], P=0.350).
Our study shows the association between the MCA stenosis and CSO-EPVS without brain atrophy as a mediator, highlighting the potential correlation between large artery stenosis and small cerebral vessel.