The severity of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency in patients with multiple sclerosis is related to altered cerebrospinal fluid dynamics

Funct Neurol. 2009 Jul-Sep;24(3):133-8.

Abstract

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a vascular picture that shows a strong association with multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between a Doppler cerebral venous hemodynamic insufficiency severity score (VHISS) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow dynamics in 16 patients presenting with CCSVI and relapsing-remitting MS (CCSVI-MS) and in eight healthy controls (HCs). The two groups (patients and controls) were evaluated using validated echo-Doppler and advanced 3T-MRI CSF flow measures. Compared with the HCs, the CCSVI-MS patients showed a significantly lower net CSF flow (p=0.027) which was highly associated with the VHISS (r=0.8280, r2=0.6855; p=0.0001). This study demonstrates that venous outflow disturbances in the form of CCSVI significantly impact on CSF pathophysiology in patients with MS.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain / blood supply
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cerebrospinal Fluid / physiology*
  • Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure
  • Cerebrovascular Circulation / physiology*
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Cerebrovascular Disorders / complications*
  • Chronic Disease
  • Female
  • Hemodynamics*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Matched-Pair Analysis
  • Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / complications*
  • Pilot Projects
  • Reference Values
  • Regional Blood Flow
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Single-Blind Method
  • Spinal Cord / blood supply
  • Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color
  • Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
  • Venous Insufficiency / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Venous Insufficiency / complications*