Cerebral venous drainage in multiple sclerosis

Cerebral venous drainage in multiple sclerosis: protocol for a blinded, age-sex matched cross-sectional ultrasound study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN75786983

Enrollment

Registered

2011-11-14

Start date

2011-11-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-11-11

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Multiple sclerosis Nervous System Diseases Multiple sclerosis

Interventions

All participants will undergo a lying and standing blood pressure measurement and an electrocardiogram (heart tracing) on entry to the study. All participants will then undergo a one hour ultrasound

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. 18 years of age or greater 2. Informed consent 3. Cases: multiple sclerosis by McDonald criteria with estimated disease severity score < 6, any disease pattern 4. Controls: no other relevant health condition 5. Ability to perform Valsalva manoeuvre 6. Stable disease for one month pre-recruitment

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Concurrent enrolment in multiple sclerosis drug trial 2. Concurrent masking neurological disease 3. Pregnancy 4. Inability to lie supine 5. Intercurrent infection 6. Superior vena cava obstruction 7. Tricuspid regurgitation 8. Right heart failure 9. Vasculitis 10. Treatment with venodilators (e.g. nitrates) 11. Head and neck surgery or radiotherapy 12. Previous central venous catheterisation 13. Previous central venous thrombosis 14. Thrombophilia 15. Arrhythmia on baseline electrocardiogram (ECG) 16. Postural systolic drop of >30mmHg on standing 17. Steroid treatment within one month 18. Pulmonary hypertension 19. Malignancy

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Reflux (>0.88s) in the internal jugular (IJV) and vertebral veins (VVs) using triplex mode 2. High resolution B-mode evidence of IJV stenosis in transverse orientation (>50% cross-sectional area diameter reduction) with and without Valsalva 3. Undetectable Doppler flow in the IJVs and VVs using colour and Spectral Doppler 4. Cross-sectional area change of the IJV from the supine to sitting position	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Reflux (>0.88s) in the internal jugular (IJV) and vertebral veins (VVs) using triplex mode 2. High resolution B-mode evidence of IJV stenosis in transverse orientation (>50% cross-sectional area diameter reduction) with and without Valsalva 3. Undetectable Doppler flow in the IJVs and VVs using colour and Spectral Doppler 4. Cross-sectional area change of the IJV from the supine to sitting position

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Inter and intra sonographer reproducibility	—

Countries

England, United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026