Timetable for NICE guidance on CCSVI

19 May 2011

Author: MS Trust

NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) has announced the timetable for its guidance on treatment for CCSVI.

Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a theory that stenosis (an abnormal narrowing or obstruction) in blood vessels can cause inflammation and damage to cells in the central nervous system, leading to MS symptoms.

It has been proposed that CCSVI can be treated by surgical procedures to open the narrowed veins by inflating balloons (balloon angioplasty) or by inserting a stent (mesh tube) to support the vein.

The NICE Interventional Procedure Programme is about to start and as a stakeholder in this guidance the MS Trust has been given the following summary of the schedule:

• 14 July 2011
  First Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting
  The evidence will be discussed and provisional recommendations drafted


• 24 August - 21 September 2011
  Consultation on the draft recommendations


• 10 November 2011
  Second IPAC meeting
  The committee will consider the consultation comments and make changes to the guidance if necessary

People with MS have been very interested in the CCSVI procedure and we are pleased to see that NICE is going to review all the data and make some recommendations.

Pam Macfarlane, Chief Executive of the MS Trust

http://www.mstrust.org.uk/news/article.jsp?id=4690