A 3-Month, Follow-Up, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Depression
by
Koerselman F, Laman DM, van Duijn H, van Duijn MA, Willems MA.
From the Departments of Psychiatry (Drs. Koerselman and Willems)
and Neurophysiology (Drs. Laman and H. van Duijn),
St. Lucas Andreas Hospital, Amsterdam; the Department of Psychiatry,
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience,
University Medical Center, Utrecht (Dr. Koerselman);
and the Department of Statistics and Measurement Theory,
University of Groningen, Groningen (Dr. M. A. J. van Duijn),
the Netherlands.
J Clin Psychiatry. 2004 Oct;65(10):1323-1328

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: There is evidence for an antidepressant effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), but little is known about posttreatment course. Therefore, we conducted a placebo-controlled, double-blind study in depressed patients in order to investigate the effect of rTMS on depression over 12 weeks after completion of the 2-week stimulation period. METHOD: 55 patients with a moderate or severe DSM-IV major depressive episode were randomly assigned to rTMS or sham treatment. rTMS was given daily for 10 days over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex with the following treatment parameters: 20 Hz, 20 trains of 2 seconds, 30 seconds between trains, and 80% motor threshold. The effect of rTMS on depression was rated repeatedly with the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) during the 2-week period of stimulation and the 12-week follow-up period conducted from 1997 to 2001. RESULTS: We found a modest, clinically nonrelevant decrease in HAM-D scores in both rTMS and sham patients over 2 weeks of treatment. However, over the subsequent 12-week follow-up, the rTMS group continued to improve significantly compared with the placebo group. CONCLUSION: Decrease of depressive symptoms may continue after the cessation of rTMS stimulation.

rTMS
SSRIs
RIMAs
Bupropion
Amineptine
Reboxetine
Nefazodone
Mirtazapine
Venlafaxine
21st Century
Tranylcypromine
rTMS versus ECT
Vagus stimulation
ECT versus rTMS for severe depression
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
2008: Neurostar TMS therapy licensed to treat depression
High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
Long-term maintenance therapy with rTMS to combat depression
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (RTMS) to treat refractory depression

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