Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator therapy for an acute ischemic stroke patient with later diagnosed unilateral moyamoya syndrome.

We report the use of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) therapy in a 38-year-old patient who was later diagnosed with unilateral moyamoya syndrome. The patient had a sudden onset of unconsciousness, vomiting, dysarthria, and tetraparesis. A neurologic examination revealed consciousness disturbance, right central facial nerve palsy, dysarthria, and tetraparesis with bilateral exotropia and horizontal gaze palsy. A magnetic resonance imaging scan on admission did not reveal fresh cerebral infarction or hemorrhage, but magnetic resonance angiography revealed severe stenosis at the terminal portion of left internal carotid artery, the anterior cerebral arteries, and the right vertebral artery. We suspected infarction of brain stem. The patient was treated with intravenous t-PA approximately 2.5 hours after onset, and the patient demonstrated a remarkable recovery 1 day after onset and had only a minimal deficit at discharge (12 days after onset). Cerebral angiography 7 days after onset confirmed the diagnosis of moyamoya disease. The present case suggests that therapeutic intravenous t-PA may be applicable for an acute ischemic stroke patient coexisting with moyamoya disease after careful evaluation and discussion with patient and family.