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I have multiple sclerosis for 18 years and this website about CCSVI, the Chronic Cerebro-Spinal Venous Insufficiency, is a contribution to the broadcast of everything related to the BIG IDEA of Dr. Paolo Zamboni, verified with the collaboration of Dr. Fabrizio Salvi and of all their working group.

Nobody knows what awaits us in the future, but this time of great hope will never be forgotten.





Interview with Prof. Paolo Zamboni

by Gioele Caccia (from The New - Chronicles of Ferrara - 2010, 28 February)


On "Facebook" its 12 thousand fans have already proposed for the Nobel Prize. But Paolo Zamboni, the researcher from Ferrara, Italy, who made a revolutionary new theory about the origin of multiple sclerosis, merely commenting that greeting with a warm and embarrassed smile.

Prof. Zamboni on the "Network" is already a star.

"Facebook has been an extraordinary tool. I noted with pleasure that, despite the inevitable excesses and inaccuracies, they form networks of patients seeking diagnostic and therapeutic responses.
They are well documented and assisted by experts, including some doctors suffering from multiple sclerosis.

Which resulted from the initial idea?


"I started to investigate these studies because in my family have this kind of problem. I reconnected with a stream of  research on multiple sclerosis born in 800 and that was literally stranded in the '60s. I could count on new knowledge gained over the past two decades, but also on the advanced technology and extremely effective. Owe much to a Danish neurologist, Fog Torben, and to an English pathologist, Adams, who carried out several studies in the '80s."

When he realized that the relationship between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (ccsvi) and multiple sclerosis could have a foundation?

"Thanks to an echo-Doppler could be adapted to measure the venous flow and to compare the parameters measured on normal subjects with those seen in patients who are ill. In 2005-2006, I formulated the hypothesis, acquired through physical evidence, that the venous circulation in patients could be hampered by congenital stenosis and real blocks in the neck and chest. Entering a catheter we found that these barriers exist really."

Next, what was it?

"Near to those malformations have established the presence of accumulations of iron and injuries associated with the disease. Most neurologists (Harvard, Buffalo, Detroit) are convinced that this mechanism is responsible for neurodegeneration and disability. New studies continue to show the correlation between the ccsvi and multiple sclerosis. On 11 December 2006, we located the first block in a patient, in a short time the cases have risen to three.
The study we completed and presented in Bologna in 2009 included the observation of 65 patients undergoing a treatment based on the enlargement of the vein wall at the constriction of the vessel."

Who does such important discoveries should always thank colleagues ...


"The contribution of Dr. Roberto Galeotti, a Vascular Radiology, a specialist of great skill and competence, was decisive. Thanks to him we can now operate in day hospital patients going to widen the veins with a very simple and low-risk intervention. Then there are researchers who have offered their time and their skills by making great sacrifices. I remember in particular Dr. Erica Menegatti and Dr. Anna Maria Malagoni. Then the whole group of  neurologists of Bellaria, from Dr. Fabrizio Salvi and a researcher, Dr. Ilaria Bartolomei.
The multidisciplinary aspect was crucial.
In Ferrara I must say thanks to the director of the department of vascular surgery, Francesco Mascoli, Professor Alberto Liboni and the Rector Patrizio Bianchi."

What results did you get?

"In many patients with the most frequent form of the disease, we found a significant and prolonged regression of  symptoms.
Restoring the normal function venous, benefits are immediate. For patients with more advanced forms we have noticed an improvement in quality of life. For example, it reduces fatigue."

The study sponsored in Italy by the Region Emilia-Romagna, what role will it have?

"I hope it can start by the end of the year. Could be completed by 2012 and when completed will tell us if the treatment is truly useful."

How do you respond to patients who now seek you from around the world?

"Have faith. Hold on, we will succeed."