CCSVI

The cause of MS remains elusive. The prevailing wisdom that central nervous system damage (CNS) in multiple sclerosis (MS) is predominantly the result of abnormal immune responses against the patient’s nervous tissue has been challenged recently by Zamboni et al., who found strong associations between MS and a condition defined as chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). CCSVI is a vascular condition characterized by anomalies of the main extracranial cerebrospinal venous routes that interfere with normal venous outflow. These anomalies affect the internal jugular veins, the vertebral veins and the azygous vein, and can be detected using selective venography, magnetic resonance venography and extracranial venous echo-color Doppler. These initial findings require replication in larger samples, using improved methods of detecting CCSVI.

The goal of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC) is to determine the sensitivity and specificity of CCSVI for MS diagnosis using improved diagnostic tools, and to firmly establish the level of CCSVI prevalence in MS patients, as well as its clinical, MRI and genetic correlates.