New treatment for multiple sclerosis

Doctors at Fortis, Noida, treated a 60-year-old woman of multiple sclerosis (MS) — a disease of the nervous system that affects the brain and the spinal chord — using a new technique called ‘liberation treatment’.

Doctors at Fortis, Noida, treated a 60-year-old woman of multiple sclerosis (MS) — a disease of the nervous system that affects the brain and the spinal chord — using a new technique called ‘liberation treatment’.

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The treatment, which is offered only in a few hospitals in the world, is based on the latest scientific research on MS that links deposition of harmful material in the brain — as is the case in MS — to narrowing of the veins carrying blood from the brain and the spine to heart.

“Shrinking of veins causes slower return of blood that results in accumulation of harmful substances such as iron in the brain and causes serious damage. In the ‘Liberation Treatment,’ we treat this narrowing of veins to ease the blood flow,” said Dr. Vikas Gupta, senior consultant, stroke and endovascular neurosurgery at the hospital, who led the team of doctors during the treatment.

Doctors performed venous angiography on her — a medical imaging technique used to visualise the inside of blood vessels and body organs, which showed significant narrowing of the right jugular vein (veins in the neck that drain blood from the head, brain, face and neck). In an hour-long procedure, two weeks ago, doctors performed an angioplasty — a procedure to open blocked arteries and veins, under local anaesthesia.

The treatment required a three-day stay in the hospital and cost around Rs 1.5 lakh.