MS patients in B.C. part of trial on experimental treatment

TORONTO Multiple sclerosis patients in B.C. will be part of a federal government trial of a controversial experimental treatment.

Researchers will begin recruiting patients Nov. 1 to study the treatment for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Friday.

That treatment involves unblocking neck veins that Italian vascular surgeon Paolo Zamboni has suggested could be a cause of MS.

About 100 patients are expected to take part in the trial to be conducted in B.C. and Quebec.

Vancouver MS researcher Dr. Anthony Traboulsee will head the $6-million study being funded by Ottawa, the MS Society of Canada and the provinces where the trial will take place.

Traboulsee said researchers will monitor MS patients over a two-year period in order to obtain scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of the CCSVI procedure.

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MS patients in B.C. part of trial on experimental treatment