Malden wrote:Billmeik wrote:...
A Matter of Assessment?
The appealing idea that simple angioplasty of extracranial veins might cure or improve symptoms of this devastating disease caught the attention of highly educated and motivated MS patients late last year and has since engaged many in the unifying demand for access to what has been dubbed by some the "liberation procedure."
Dr. Zamboni — who denies having called it the liberation procedure — and colleagues presented new data here and addressed some of his critics. At the packed Charcot Symposium dedicated to discussion of the topic at the outset of the meeting, he first emphasized what these venous lesions are and what they are not.
"CCSVI is composed of several blockages in the main outflow routes, the jugular vein, azygous vein, but this is very important to understand," he said, displaying angiographic and high-resolution B-mode images along with a specimen, these blockages "are merely intraluminal defects; not problems in the wall, but intraluminal defects: webs, membranes, malformed valves."
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Why then most common Liberation procedure is just simple angioplasty solving vein wall problems if CCSVI blockages are "not problems in the wall", but " intraluminal defects: webs, membranes, malformed valves"?
Does it mean that angioplasty is unnecessary procedure for solving CCSVI, because it does not solve intraluminal defects: webs, membranes, malformed valves?
Dear Colin:
Angioplasty does address webs, membranes, and malformed valves. Maybe not as permanently as we'd like, but it addresses them nonetheless. (maybe stents are needed more than we'd like to admit in a lot of cases though, and they'd be a better solution).
The thought is to push a web up against the vein wall, and hopefully incorporate it into the wall, or to break it up enough that it doesn't restrict flow.
Valves are ballooned either into the wall, or back to a normal position, remember that 15% of all persons do not have valves in their jugular veins. So, not nearly 15% of the population have valves. (Hence, maybe we don't even need valves - if that's the case ... a stent holding them open might not be a bad thing - if properly cared for and determined that is the best method).
Methinks you're just looking to pick a "fight" ...
Have a good weekend.