OBJECTIVES: The aim of this report is to assess the safety of endovascular 
treatment for chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI). Although 
balloon angioplasty and stenting seem to be safe procedures, there are currently 
no data on the treatment of a large group of patients with this vascular 
pathology.
METHODS: A total of 564 endovascular procedures (balloon angioplasty or, if this 
procedure failed, stenting) were performed during 344 interventions in 331 CCSVI 
patients with associated multiple sclerosis.
RESULTS: Balloon angioplasty alone was performed in 192 cases (55.8%), whereas 
the stenting of at least one vein was required in the remaining 152 cases 
(44.2%). There were no major complications (severe bleeding, venous thrombosis, 
stent migration or injury to the nerves) related to the procedure, except for 
thrombotic occlusion of the stent in two cases (1.2% of stenting procedures) and 
surgical opening of femoral vein to remove angioplastic balloon in one case 
(0.3% of procedures). Minor complications included occasional technical problems 
(2.4% of procedures): difficulty removing the angioplastic balloon or problems 
with proper placement of stent, and other medical events (2.1% of procedures): 
local bleeding from the groin, minor gastrointestinal bleeding or cardiac 
arrhythmia.
CONCLUSIONS: The procedures appeared to be safe and well tolerated by the 
patients, regardless of the actual impact of the endovascular treatments for 
venous pathology on the clinical course of multiple sclerosis, which warrants 
long-term follow-up.