China bans surgical treatment of Alzheimer's
The procedure, known as lymphatic-venous anastomosis (LVA), involves connecting the patient's lymph vessels to veins near the neck to speed up the flow and drainage of lymph fluid. The aim is to boost the removal of harmful brain proteins and slow the disease's progression.
The National Health Commission said it has recently learned that some medical institutions are conducting lymphaticovenous anastomosis, also known as LVA surgery, on patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Following the commission's discovery, it conducted assessments on the procedure's safety and efficacy, the Commission said in a notice.
"Our evaluation concludes that there is a lack of evidence from preclinical studies in the use of LVA surgery for Alzheimer's disease treatment," it said, state-run China Daily reported on Friday.
"The procedure remains at an early stage of clinical research with its indications and contraindications yet to be clarified, and there is insufficient medical or health economic evidence attesting to its safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness," the commission added.
Local health authorities are advised to instruct medical institutions to halt treating Alzheimer's disease with LVA surgery and guarantee proper follow-up care for affected patients.
"When sufficient preclinical evidence is collected, qualified medical institutions can carry out clinical studies under the full deliberation of ethics committees," it added.
The surgery has grown in popularity, particularly over the past year, since it was first performed in 2021 by a microsurgery expert from a private hospital in Hangzhou, in the eastern province of Zhejiang.
Based on publicly available information, an estimated 382 hospitals across almost all Chinese provinces had performed the procedure by the end of June, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Alzheimer's disease – the leading cause of dementia - is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills, and eventually the ability to carry out the simplest tasks.
When the surgery first came to public attention, some Chinese doctors promoted it enthusiastically on social media, claiming it was 'effective for 60 to 80 per cent of patients', according to the Post report.
But it has also been met with scepticism, with some medical experts questioning its fundamental mechanism and long-term effectiveness.
Dr Fan Dongsheng, a professor in the neurology department at Peking University Third Hospital, warned that the scientific mechanism behind the treatment had not been well studied and was not convincing at present.
He told the Post that the reported improvements in patient symptoms were qualitative and not based on the accepted evaluation system.
Fan welcomed the government's decision to halt the treatment, calling it 'apparently problematic' that many hospitals, even small ones, performed the surgery extensively without solid evidence and had charged patients for it.
Users on the Chinese social media platforms, however, expressed their anxiety that diagnosed family members would no longer be able to receive the treatment.
'If the patient's family agrees, I think it's worth trying because some patients are in a really serious condition and their families are exhausted and desperate,' a person from northeastern Liaoning wrote.
One man said that his father, who was treated in March, had recovered well and could now recognise people and look after himself.
If surgery had the potential to improve patients' conditions, 'most families would choose to give it a try', he told the Post.
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