Srinagar, July 16 -- Kashmir's premier tertiary care hospital, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), today achieved a milestone by successfully performing the first direct vascular bypass surgery between superficial temporal artery and middle cerebral artery (STA-MCA) in a patient with Moya-Moya disease.

Moya-Moya disease is a rare condition typically seen in East Asian populations, especially Japan, where arteries at the base of the brain become narrowed, leading to the formation of fragile blood vessels that resemble a "puff of smoke" (Moya-Moya in Japanese) on imaging. It reduces brain blood flow and increases stroke risk, especially in children. Symptoms include strokes or seizures and treatment usually involves surger...