Update from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and McMaster University’s CCSVI study.

February 14, 2012

Thank you for your support of MS research at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and McMaster University. We are writing to you with an update on the progress of our research study investigating the hypothesis of Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) and its theorized connection to Multiple Sclerosis.

With all study participants having completed the ultrasound and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) evaluations in the summer of 2011 we moved to the complex task of compiling and interpreting the results. Currently, we can report that the blinded reading of the ultrasound and MRI measurements has been completed. Each of the 200 research subjects had close to 100 individual measurements that have been read and interpreted, an arduous process that has been extremely time consuming. However, these data (approximately 20,000 pieces) are now safely entered into the study database.

Presently the research team is scrutinizing and analyzing all the gathered data. It is a highly complex process given the large volume of information that we now possess and one that has taken longer than the investigators had predicted. It is anticipated that we will submit a primary manuscript for peer review by the end of March 2012. Dependent on a successful peer review, publication of the study results will follow. At this time, we cannot predict a date for publication, but we are committed to informing our group of supporters as soon as more information becomes available.

Research projects such as this are at the core of what makes St. Joseph’s Healthcare a special place, a place where treating a patient’s symptoms is not the end of the care pathway, but the start of an investigative journey to better understand illness and disease. Every day more than 500 researchers, physicians, students and staff members are hard at work in research, trying to create a healthier future for all of us.

Once again, thank you for your support and ongoing interest in the progress of our study into the hypothesis of CCSVI. We look forward to sharing more updates with you as they become available.

Ms. Sera Filice-Armenio
President & CEO
St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation

Dr. Ian W. Rodger, PhD, FRCP(Edin)
Professor Emeritus
Department of Medicine
McMaster University

“Canada has the opportunity to become a leader in the understanding of how the venous system affects a debilitating neurological disease. The implications for people with MS could be life changing, and the possibilities to learn about other neurological disorders have immeasurable potential benefit.”

Dr. Michael E. Shannon, Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, CCSVI Coalition.
 
 
 
 

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