Nutritional assessment in the surgical treatment of childhood moyamoya disease

: Pre- and postoperative values of total protein (TP), total cholesterol (TCH), hemoglobin (HGB), red blood cell (RBC) and hematocrit (HCT) were measured in the surgical treatment of seventeen patients with childhood moyamoya disease. Six out of the 17 patients had bypass surgery twice, so twenty-three cases in total were included in the present study. The postoperative parameters were measured 7 days after each operation. The average of intraoperative blood loss was 103 ml. Decreases in TP, TCH, HGB, RBC, and HCT were 19.7%, 21.3%, 19.8%, 20.8%, and 20.2%, respectively (paired t-test, P < 0.000001). Age had a significantly negative correlation with blood loss rate (blood loss/total blood volume), decrease in HGB, decrease in RBC, and decrease in HCT, respectively. Body weight also had a significantly negative correlation with these values, respectively. In summary, the nutritional state in the postoperative periods of childhood moyamoya disease had not improved even seven days after operation, so special attention to the amount of intraoperative blood loss was needed in low age and low body weight-children with moyamoya disease.