Vascular surgery for MS

Brian Beacom, HeraldScotland.com

Scotland’s community of 10,000 multiple sclerosis sufferers will be focused intently on a hotel in Clydebank this weekend, where the potential of a controversial new treatment will be debated by clinical experts.

Specialists from Poland, Canada, Bulgaria, Jordan and the UK will come together to discuss the theories of Dr Paulo Zamboni, an Italian vascular surgeon, who claims that the symptoms of MS can be treated by clearing the blocked veins which cause toxic build-ups in the brain.

Already, dozens of Scots with MS have travelled to eastern Europe to be treated for Chronic Cerebro-Spinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI), which involves balloon angioplasties or stents being fitted into the jugular and azygos veins in the neck.

The procedure to tackle CCSVI is the most talked-about MS regimen in recent years, and is already a multi-million-pound industry with treatments costing around £7000. Now, a group of doctors from the fields of vascular, neurological and radiological medicine will meet in Glasgow to discuss Dr Zamboni’s theories.

But does CCSVI work? Read more>>