A review of cerebrovascular surgery in the People's Republic of China.

Cerebrovascular disease (CBVD) is very common in the People's Republic of China (PRC). In 8 of 12 large cities in the PRC, CBVD ranked first in frequency as a cause of death. The ratio fo aneurysms to arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) was 0.84-2:1, much lower than in the United States (6.5:1). Hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HIH) is the commonest cause of mortality in patients with CBVD; patients with ischemic stroke have been submitted to the extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) arterial anastomosis since 1976. Moyamoya syndrome is not uncommon in the PRC; leptospiral arteritis was one of the major causes in the series that have been reported.