Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition regarding chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency, or CCSVI. There is a long history of abnormal vasculature in MS, which was described by Cruveilhier in 1839 and later by other researchers, including von Rindfleisch in 1863 and Putnam in 1937. There is extensive literature examining such areas as venous stenosis, cerebral hydrodynamics and venous hypertension, inflammation and cerebral plaques, vascular damage to nerves and reduced perfusion. The petitioners call for the Minister of Health to consult experts actively engaged in diagnosis and treatment of CCSVI to undertake phase III clinical trials on an urgent basis in multiple centres across Canada and to require follow-up care.

Kirsty Duncan