Moyamoya Disease Program

Watch neurosurgeon Ed Smith explain moyamoya disease and its treatment.

At Boston Children’s, our Moyamoya Disease Program provides the full spectrum of diagnostic, consultation, surgical and follow-up care services for children and adolescents with Moyamoya disease. Our neurosurgeons and other clinicians are considered some of the world's foremost experts on the disease, so you can rest assured that your child is in good hands with us.

Our Moyamoya Disease Program specialists not only have extensive experience in treating this rare and complex disease; they also have specialized training in all aspects of pediatric medicine and surgery. That means that our surgeons, specialists, nurses and other health professionals understand the particular needs and concerns of young patients and their families.

We collaborate with our expert colleagues across the hospital—from neurologists, radiologists and anesthesiologists to physical therapists, social workers and speech therapists—to devise a comprehensive treatment plan that is right for your child and family.

Our specialists also conduct essential Moyamoya disease research into its causes, development and treatment. Our research efforts include:

• studying how blood vessels in the brain respond to Moyamoya disease and to surgical treatment
• examining the alterations of blood flow in the brains of children with Moyamoya
• determining how certain components of the blood and cerebrospinal fluid may influence the onset and progression of Moyamoya disease
• new methods of diagnosing Moyamoya disease at an early stage noninvasively, before disabling strokes occur

Did you know? The practice of pediatric neurosurgery has roots at Boston Children's

In 1929, Boston Children's physicians Harvey Cushing, MD, and Franc Ingraham, MD, established the Department of Neurosurgery at the hospital—marking the introduction of pediatric neurosurgery as a formally recognized field. Cushing and Ingraham, along with Donald Matson, MD, went on to write some of the most widely used and respected textbooks on pediatric neurosurgery, which are still considered required reading for aspiring neurosurgeons. Today, Boston Children's is one of the only pediatric hospitals in the world with full clinical programs devoted to rare illnesses like Moyamoya disease.