Clinic to screen for MS treatment

A former Winnipegger is about to open a clinic in Pembina, N.D., to screen multiple sclerosis patients for the controversial liberation treatment.

Randy Spielvogel plans to charge between $300 and $500 dollars to scan patients at his Mobile Life Screening clinic, which is set to open in October, just minutes across the border from Manitoba.

He said MS patients are clamouring for the tests to see if they are potential candidates for liberation treatment, which revolves around a theory that constricted veins may contribute to MS symptoms and that the problem can be alleviated by surgery to increase blood flow to the brain.

The treatment was developed by Italian doctor Paolo Zamboni, who believed the narrowed veins causes a buildup of blood and iron in the brain, resulting in vertigo, fatigue, muscle spasms and other symptoms experienced by MS sufferers.

Most patients in the Manitoba-North Dakota region currently have to travel much farther in the United States or Canada to New York or Vancouver, for example and pay as much as $2,400 for the scans.

People who want the surgery done have to go even farther. It is not available in Canada at all. The MS Society says the treatment is still in its infancy and not fully tested.

Dr. Paul Hbert, a critical-care physician and editor-in-chief of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, has said that manipulating veins can be dangerous, and there is no established link between venous blockages and MS.

'We've received, literally, hundreds of calls over the last several months since this [treatment] came out.' Randy Spielvogel, Mobile Life Screening

North American patients seeking the treatment, however, are spending tens of thousands of dollarsto have it done in Poland, Mexico, Bulgaria or India.

Recently, the Albany State Medical Center, in New York, also began to offer the treatment.

Spielvogel's clinic won't offer the treatment itself, but the scan will allow patients to determine whether or not they are candidates for it.

"Demand is very large," said Spielvogel. "We've received, literally, hundreds of calls over the last several months since this [treatment] came out.

"We thought, 'we have to act on it.' And that's what we're doing, and going to start offering it to Manitobans."

Spielvogel is heading to Buffalo, N.Y., to train to perform the Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) screening process before offering the scans.

Pembina is located just five kilometres south of the border with Manitoba.