The Brave Dreams clinical trial of venous PTA

[1eye]

http://www.thisisms.com/forum/general-d ... ml#p250840

[1eye]

From another paper by Dr. Zamboni:

The delayed effect of venous PTA 6 months after the procedure on the magnetic resonance biomarker suggests a possibility that PTA may produce benefit for a subgroup of patients with MS. This should be further analyzed and investigated.

[NHE]

From the abstract...

Flow restoration was achieved in 38 of 71 patients (54%) in the PTA group.

So, only 54% actually had blood flow restored! Do we know what the results would have been if the analysis had been restricted to that subset of patients?

[tzootsi]

My wife had 3 CCSVI treatments about 6 years ago. The first one helped noticeably for about 4 months, the other 2 did little if anything. I think there is definitely something to the whole CCSVI issue, but we don't have the real answer yet. Perhaps lymphatic drainage is also part of the puzzle.

[Cece]

Yeah that's depressing.
The trial was designed for 400 but only 100 enrolled, which means it was underpowered, for what that's worth.
My personal experience remains as positive as ever. I feel really lucky to have gone for it when I did.

[frodo]

The whole article available online:

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamane ... le/2664001

Some quotes:

*Flow restoration was achieved in 38 of 71 patients (54%) in the PTA group.
*The functional composite measure did not differ between the PTA and sham groups

But they do not say nothing specific about the evolution of the group in which the flow restoration was successful!!!

[cheerleader]

Thank you for discussing the complete results and linking the full paper! Yes, it's hard to know how the results might have gone had blood flow been restored for more than 54% of the participants....hard to judge the true value of a procedure when it is not completed. We may never know the truth...but I live with a "responder" and have seen how his life has changed. So, for me, like Cece, anecdotal evidence will have to suffice.
best to all,
cheer