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Weight restrictions on CCSVI procedure

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 12:51 pm
by jennypenny
This is a bit of a touchy subject. I am due to go to Costa Rica and just got an email from them. Their doctors have reviewed their safety protocols and may not accept patients with a BMI over 35 or weight over 250lbs. I'm wondering if anyone has heard if other places put these restrictions on.

Re: Weight restrictions on CCSVI procedure

Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 3:20 pm
by drsclafani
jennypenny wrote:This is a bit of a touchy subject. I am due to go to Costa Rica and just got an email from them. Their doctors have reviewed their safety protocols and may not accept patients with a BMI over 35 or weight over 250lbs. I'm wondering if anyone has heard if other places put these restrictions on.
There are some factors to consider.
1. Table tolerance. Some of the tables are canterlievered. that means that the weight is carried by one "leg". in essence the table is like an 7

you can imagine how that weight can actually pull the leg out of the ground.

2. Very heavy patients attenuate the xray so much that there are insufficient photons hitting the detector. The images may be grainy (quantum mottle) and make the test non-diagnostic.

3. Some xray units do not have the energy to pass through the patient to hit the detectors.

So there are reasons to limit patients of certain weights.