Yesterday Angeles Health International held a free webinar for MS sufferers: CCSVI:Diagnostic Testing & Treatment at Hospital Angeles. Panelists included Dr. Jorge Luna, the interventional cardiologist and Dr.Janis Gruska, CCSVI Case Coordinator.

Dr. Luna received his medical degree at Universidad Autonoma de Baja California in Mexicali, Mexico, specializing in Internal Medicine. He has completed fellowships with the National Institute of Cardiology (Mexico City, Mexico) and in Cardiovascular Medicine/ sub-specialty Cardiology, and Cardiac Catheterization / sub-specialty Invasive Cardiology at Stanford Medical School in Palo Alto California, where he specialized in clinical research in the Intravascular Ultrasound Core Laboratory, the development and clinical testing of medical devices, experimental research on atherosclerotic plaque characterization, and the percutaneous treatment of mitral regurgitation.

More than 30 patients attended the webinar, in which Dr. Luna described the outcomes the Angeles CCSVI medical team has seen with the ~30 patients treated in the past two months at Hospital Angeles. Dr. Luna provided a detailed explanation of the advanced Angeles protocol, with CCSVI diagnostic testing and treatment conducted under the aegis of a medical treatment team that includes an interventional neurologist, an interventional cardiologist and an interventional radiologist.

Cardiovascular interventionists are migrating what been learned from vascular arterial beds, but the inclusion of neurology is essential as well, as Dr. Luna pointed outThe Angeles medical team is clearly looking at the CCSVI issue long term. “Two different points of view will always yield more information,: Dr. Luna noted, also pointing out that “Many neurologists are not familiar with CCSVI. Some show some skepticism even,”

Enter neurovascular interventionism, a new subspecialty of neurosurgery, developed to expand treatment options to patients with central nervous vascular conditions. It is a field dedicated to responding to the need of vascular interventions in the neck and above, as is the case with treatment for CCSVI.

Admitting that “we cannot disregard the fact that this is a newly recognized condition and that there is not wide experience anywhere in the world, Dr. Luna discussed with webinar participants the balloon angioplasty protocol as well as balloon angioplasty with stent. The possibility of stent dislodgement was reviewed in detailed, as well as full discussion of the risks posed by venoplasty and stenting. The webinar also discussed, at length, when venograms are ordered, and the amount of vascular stenosis required to qualify for treatment, for example what conditions indicate treatment when stenosis for one or more veins is less than 50%.

CCSVI patients treated at Angeles include MS sufferers from the UK, US and Canada, and include Relapsing-Remitting, Primary-Progressive and Secondary Progressive, with all but one patient experiencing immediate relief of at least some symptoms. Though outcomes cannot be discussed in statistical or clinical terms, the observed improvements in function post-procedure have been quite consistent and sometimes even dramatic.

Additional webinars are scheduled through September, all webinars start at 12:00 noon PST and last about 90 minutes. Patients are able to submit questions in writing or live chat with the medical team.
Families of patients are of welcome to participate/ask questions as well. Patients who do not quality for CCSVI are also welcome to attend and discuss stem cell therapy options for MS patients (near end of session).

The webinars are free but space is limited.