Multiple Sclerosis related - Buffalo CCSVI Study Results Revealed; A Significant Step on the Journey Towards a Cure?

Written by Marc Stecker - "The Wheelchair Kamikaze"

February 10, 2010

After months of anticipation by the worldwide MS community, the results of the University at Buffalo's CCSVI imaging study were disclosed today (click here for report). While they may not be quite as dramatic as some patients had hoped, the results do show an unambiguous link between the vascular abnormalities known as CCSVI and Multiple Sclerosis. (For those readers unfamiliar with CCSVI, click here)

The Buffalo study of 500 subjects showed that 56.4% of the MS patients imaged suffered from a narrowing of their extracranial veins (CCSVI), while 22.4% of healthy test subjects also exhibited such narrowing. This contrasts markedly with the over 95% to 100% correlation found in the smaller unblinded studies previously reported on by the founder of the CCSVI theory, Dr. Paolo Zamboni, who also found no evidence of such abnormalities in healthy control subjects. There were several additional small studies done elsewhere that also had reported a CCSVI-MS correlation of over 90%.

All participants in the Buffalo study underwent ultrasound (Doppler) scans of the head and neck, with some also being imaged with MR venograms. Of the subjects studied, 10.2% were borderline for CCSVI, which allows for some variance in the interpretation of the final numbers.

Upon first look, the much lower correlation between MS and CCSVI shown in the Buffalo study when compared to previous studies may seem disappointing, but in my opinion the less dramatic numbers may actually give the CCSVI theory greater scientific credibility.

MS is an extremely heterogeneous disease, meaning that the symptoms and clinical presentations exhibited can vary widely from patient to patient. This has led some researchers to conjecture that what we now call Multiple Sclerosis may in fact be a collection of different maladies that share common symptoms and markers. This could explain the wide variance in effectiveness seen in the current arsenal of MS treatments.

Continue to read Marc's story by clicking here.

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