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According to Hilarescere Foundation, which funds the research: "At 2-year follow-up, no major complications were observed... this treatment decreases pressure in the cerebral veins in a highly significant way, thus showing its enormous anti-inflammatory potential."

In a study to be published on Nov. 24 in the Journal of Vascular Surgery, researchers report on 65 MS patients 18 months after surgery. "Generally speaking, patients treated with endovascular therapy showed a decrease in the number of disease relapses, a marked reduction in the number of active brain and spinal lesions and also a clear-cut improvement in the patients' quality of life.

CCSVI is such a newly identified condition, many doctors and MS centres are only learning about it now. Very few ultrasound technologists know how to perform the neck and head scan developed at the University of Ferrara.

That said, in North America, some centres are beginning research. Here are a few:
1. The University of Buffalo Jacobs Neurological Institute will be testing over 1,000 MS patients (adults and children) to scan their necks and veins to confirm the prevalence of CCSVI. The email for the study co-ordinators is ctevd@bnac.net
2. Prof. Mark Haacke, director of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Institute for Biomedical Research at Wayne State University in Detroit, who also works at McMaster University in Hamilton, is also conducting his own study. He's the inventor of a novel tool used to analyze MRI scans of the brain called SWI, "susceptibility weighted imaging system." SWI is hihgly sensitive to the presence of substances such as iron and is considered one of the most sophisticated and advanced system for the diagnosis of MS. Haacke is starting his own study inviting patients and doctors to send him MRI scans so that he can build on Zamboni's findings.

The Liberation Treatment is still an experimental treatment and is not widely offered except as part of some studies underway.

In Italy, the University of Ferrara's Public Relations Office can be contacted through laura.barbaro@unife.it

The Public Relations Office at the Santa Anna di Ferrara Hospital, where Dr. Zamboni's team continues research on CCSVI, can be contacted at: urp@ospfe.it

Dr. Zamboni's team at the University of Ferrara and the Santa Anna Hospital in Ferrara can be contacted at centroilbene@gmail.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CHECK THE FOLLOWING SITE:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story

http://www.bentham.org - Zamboni.pdf

http://www.theglobeandmail.com - Labour-of-love-leads-to-breakthrough-in-treating-ms

Canada MS Society Press Release 11-23-09

CCSVI - The Liberation Treatment

BUFFALO NEUROIMAGING ANALYSIS CENTER