This IS NOT CCSVI, per se, because it is not about the Zamboni criteria... doppler ultrasound was not utilized to check for refluxive flow or intraluminal defects. This was purely a testing of blood flow and stenotic veins.
68% of pwMS had stenotic veins.
Important to note--the pwMS who had stenotic jugular veins had a total IJV flow of less than 8 mL/s. with the subdominant jugular taking only 3 mL/s of blood back to the heart.
Blood flow in normals with average size brain is 12.5 mL/s in the supine position.
That's a lot less blood draining from MS brains.
http://jp.physoc.org/content/560/1/317.full.pdf
http://www.jvir.org/article/S1051-0443(11%2901343-1/abstract?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=1051-0443_201201_23_1&elsca4=m
Patients with Multiple Sclerosis with Structural Venous Abnormalities on MR Imaging Exhibit an Abnormal Flow Distribution of the Internal Jugular Veins
E. Mark Haacke, PhD, Wei Feng, PhD, David Utriainen, BS, Gabriela Trifan, MD, Zhen Wu, MD, Zahid Latif, RT, Yashwanth Katkuri, MS, Joseph Hewett, MD, David Hubbard, MD
Received 28 April 2011; received in revised form 15 September 2011; accepted 17 September 2011.
Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate extracranial venous structural and flow characteristics in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Materials and Methods
Two hundred subjects with MS from two sites (n = 100 each) were evaluated with magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 3 T. Contrast-enhanced time-resolved MR angiography and time-of-flight MR venography were used to assess vascular anatomy. Two-dimensional phase-contrast MR imaging was used to quantify blood flow. The MS population was divided into two groups: those with evident internal jugular vein (IJV) stenoses (stenotic group) and those without (nonstenotic group).
Results
Of the 200 patients, 136 (68%) showed IJV structural abnormalities, including unilateral or bilateral stenoses at different levels in the neck (n = 101; 50.5%) and atresia (n = 35; 17.5%). The total IJV flow normalized to the total arterial flow of the stenotic group (56% ± 22) was significantly lower than that of the nonstenotic group (77% ± 14; P < .001). The arterial/venous flow mismatch in the stenotic group (12% ± 15) was significantly greater than that in the nonstenotic group (6% ± 12; P < .001). The ratio of subdominant venous flow rate (Fsd) to dominant venous flow rate (Fd) for the stenotic group (0.38 ± 0.27) was significantly lower than for the nonstenotic group (0.59 ± 0.23; P < .001). The majority of the stenotic group (67%) also had an Fsd of less than 3 mL/s, a Fd/Fsd ratio greater than 3:1, and/or a total IJV flow rate of less than 8 mL/s.
Conclusions
MR imaging provides a noninvasive means to separate stenotic from nonstenotic MS cases. The former group was more prevalent in the present MS population and carried significantly less flow in the IJVs than the latter.