{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T10:41:41Z","timestamp":1777286501474,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,11]],"date-time":"2025-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1741651200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cardiovasc. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Twig-like middle cerebral artery (T-MCA) is a rare cerebrovascular malformation with an incidence of approximately 0.11% to 1.17%. It is challenging to distinguish T-MCA from Moyamoya Angiopathy (MMA), particularly from unilateral MMA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Case presentation<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A middle-aged female patient was admitted to our hospital for diagnosis and treatment due to intermittent dizziness lasting for two months. Neurological examination upon admission revealed no significant abnormalities.Whole-brain angiography showed clear blood flow in the left common carotid artery and internal carotid artery; however, no main trunk of the distal left middle cerebral artery M1 segment was visualized, and a network of small arteries supplying blood was observed. High-resolution intracranial arterial plaque imaging revealed no visualization of the LM1 main trunk on plain scan or enhanced high-resolution black-blood sequence; the proximal segment showed significant narrowing with circumferential thickening of the vessel wall. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with left-sided T-MCA.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Asymptomatic T-MCA is challenging to identify clinically, making it essential to perform DSA or high-resolution MRI for suspected cases promptly. Regular follow-up is also necessary to confirm the final diagnosis in these patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcvm.2025.1530241","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,11]],"date-time":"2025-03-11T01:12:23Z","timestamp":1741655543000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Twig-like middle cerebral artery: a case report and literature review"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Kai-Meng","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Neurology Department of Hebei General Hospital","place":["Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yan-Zhao","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Neurointervention Department of Hebei General Hospital","place":["Shijiazhuang, Hebei, 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