POEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes) syndrome is a rare multisystem disease characterized by plasma cell dyscrasia and overproduction of vascular endothelial growth factor, which is related to disease activity. Recent treatment strategies have improved survival of patients suffering from this disorder; however, ischemic stroke remains a poor prognostic factor. POEMS patients with ischemic stroke frequently develop cerebral large artery stenosis/occlusion, followed by progressive stroke. Post literature review, we present an ischemic stroke case of quasi-moyamoya disease linked with this syndrome that was successfully treated with surgical revascularization. A 41-year-old woman diagnosed with POEMS syndrome developed progressive ischemic stroke due to quasi-moyamoya disease, despite decreased vascular endothelial growth factor level with lenalidomide and dexamethasone treatment. She underwent superficial temporal artery to middle cerebral artery bypass with encephalo-duro-myo-synangiosis bilaterally. The postoperative course was uneventful. Two years and five months after the stroke, neuroimaging demonstrated bypass patency, neovascularization after encephalo-duro-myo-synangiosis, and no recurrence of stroke. Our case is the first to report successful surgical revascularization for a POEMS patient. Surgical revascularization may be a useful treatment option for patients with quasi-moyamoya disease associated with POEMS syndrome, especially for those who develop refractory ischemic stroke despite reduced vascular endothelial growth factor level.

High-flow extracranial-intracranial bypass is associated with a significant risk of ischemic stroke. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of STA-MCA bypass preceding a high-flow bypass as a means of protecting the brain from ischemia during the high-flow bypass anastomosis in patients with otherwise untreatable aneurysms.
This prospective study included 10 consecutive patients treated for complex/giant aneurysm using a previous combined STA-MCA bypass and high-flow EC-IC bypass between June 2016 and January 2018 when classical endovascular or microsurgical exclusion was estimated too risky. Early cranial Doppler, MRI, CT scan, and conventional angiography were performed in each patient to confirm patency of bypasses, measure flow in the anastomoses, detect any ischemic lesions, and evaluate exclusion of the aneurysm.
The mean age at treatment was 55 years (range 34 to 67). The mean time of microsurgical procedure was 11 h (range 9 to 12). In all patients, the high-flow bypass was patent intraoperatively and complete occlusion of aneurysm was obtained. No ischemic lesions were noted on early MRI. One patient died from a large hemispheric infarction related to a common carotid artery dissection 10 days after the microsurgical procedure and immediate postoperative epidural hematoma was noted in one other patient.
In this study, we described the use of a protective STA-MCA bypass, performed prior to the high-flow bypass, in order to reduce the risk of perioperative ischemic lesions without increasing the morbidity of the surgical procedure. This treatment paradigm was feasible in all ten patients without complications related to the STA-MCA anastomosis.

BACKGROUND: Some ruptured intracranial aneurysms concomitant with major artery occlusion may not be amenable for standard clipping or coiling due to the specific hemodynamic conditions. The long-term effect of flow reduction therapy for such aneurysms is largely unknown.
METHODS: A 45-year-old woman presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a ruptured basilar tip aneurysm. Angiography revealed that the bilateral internal carotid arteries were hypoplastic and that the anterior circulation was fed by the collateral flow through the bilateral posterior communicating arteries and the posterior choroidal arteries. Endovascular treatment failed because it was extremely difficult to secure the catheter at the neck of the aneurysm and insert the coil safely because it was a small aneurysm with a wide neck. In addition, direct clipping was risky due to the location and projection of the aneurysm. We therefore adopted the 2-stage bilateral superficial temporal artery-middle cerebral artery bypass to alleviate the vascular demand on the anterior circulation, with the aim of reducing the hemodynamic stress to the basilar bifurcation. The patient had no rebleeding for 4 years after surgery, with gradual shrinkage of the aneurysm.
CONCLUSIONS: All the possible treatment options should be carefully assessed because the long-term effect of the flow alternation method to prevent rebleeding has not been proved. However, our case suggests that the strategy of reducing the hemodynamic stress at the parent artery may be effective even in selected cases of ruptured aneurysms for which standard clipping or coiling is not feasible.