eCAM Advance Access originally published online on October 6, 2004
eCAM 2004 1(3):315-319; doi:10.1093/ecam/neh039
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Ozone Therapy on Cerebral Blood Flow: A Preliminary Report
1Department of Radiation Oncology, Dr Negrín Hospital Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain, 2Department of Research Unit, Dr Negrín Hospital Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain, 3Department of Radiology, Dr Negrín Hospital Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain, 4Department of Medical Physics, Dr Negrín Hospital Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain, 5La Paterna Medical Center Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain, 6Department of Chronic Pain Unit, Dr Negrín Hospital Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain, and 7Canary Islands Institute for Cancer Research (ICIC) Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain
Ozone therapy is currently being used in the treatment of ischemic disorders, but the underlying mechanisms that result in successful treatment are not well known. This study assesses the effect of ozone therapy on the blood flow in the middle cerebral and common carotid arteries. Seven subjects were recruited for the therapy that was performed by transfusing ozone-enriched autologous blood on 3 alternate days over 1 week. Blood flow quantification in the common carotid artery (n = 14) was performed using color Doppler. Systolic and diastolic velocities in the middle cerebral artery (n = 14) were estimated using transcranial Doppler. Ultrasound assessments were conducted at the following three time points: 1) basal (before ozone therapy), 2) after session #3 and 3) 1 week after session #3. The common carotid blood flow had increased by 75% in relation to the baseline after session #3 (P < 0.001) and by 29% 1 week later (P = 0.039). In the middle cerebral artery, the systolic velocity had increased by 22% after session #3 (P = 0.001) and by 15% 1 week later (P = 0.035), whereas the diastolic velocity had increased by 33% after session #3 (P < 0.001) and by 18% 1 week later (P = 0.023). This preliminary Doppler study supports the clinical experience of achieving improvement by using ozone therapy in peripheral ischemic syndromes. Its potential use as a complementary treatment in cerebral low perfusion syndromes merits further clinical evaluation.
Keywords: color Doppler – ischemia – low perfusion – transcranial Doppler
*For reprints and all correspondence: Bernardino Clavo, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology and Research Unit, Dr Negrín Hospital, C/ Barranco la Ballena s/n, 35020 Las Palmas (Canary Islands), Spain. Fax: +34 928 449127; Tel: +34 928 450284. E-mail: bernardinoclavo{at}terra.es