Robust and Sustained Effect of Ketamine Infusions Coadministered with Conventional Antidepressants in a Patient with Refractory Major Depression

Antidepressant treatments show low capacity to achieve full clinical remissions. Electroconvulsive therapy is an alternative treatment which has been shown to be more effective but it is not well tolerated and there are concerns regarding its safety. We present the case of a patient with resistant depression and modest and transient response to ECT and who showed a robust and maintained response after six i.v. ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) infusions without withdrawing her antidepressant regimen. Ketamine was very well tolerated. This case illustrates the potential role of ketamine as a booster to standard antidepressants.

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Electroconvulsive Therapy and Age: Effectiveness, Safety and Tolerability in the Treatment of Major Depression among Patients under and over 65 Years of Age

Pharmaceuticals ◽

10.3390/ph14060582 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (6) ◽

pp. 582

Author(s):

Monika Dominiak ◽

Anna Z. Antosik-Wójcińska ◽

Marcin Wojnar ◽

Paweł Mierzejewski

Keyword(s):

Major Depression ◽

Autobiographical Memory ◽

Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

Rating Scale ◽

Short Form ◽

Serious Adverse Events ◽

Before And After ◽

Trail Making ◽

Resistant Depression

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains the most effective therapy in treatment-resistant depression. However, the safety of ECT has been consistently questioned, particularly among elderly patients. We assessed the efficacy and safety of ECT in patients before and after 65 years old. The study was conducted between 2015 and 2018 and included 91 patients (61 under and 29 over 65 years old) with major depression undergoing ECT. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was used to evaluate efficacy. Cognitive functions were assessed using: MMSE, RAVLT, Trail Making Test, Stroop Test and Autobiographical Memory Interview-Short Form. ECT was more effective in older patients as compared to younger (p < 0.001). No serious adverse events were observed in either group. Increased blood pressure and arrhythmias were more common in the older compared to the younger group (p = 0.044 and p = 0.047, respectively), while disturbances of consciousness did not differ between groups (p = 0.820). Most of the cognitive functions remained unchanged compared to baseline, whereas the outcomes of MMSE, RAVLT and Stroop tests showed greater improvements in the older compared to the younger group (all p < 0.05). The decline in the retrieval consistency of autobiographical memory was more pronounced in the younger group (p = 0.024). ECT is a highly effective, safe and well-tolerated method of treating depression regardless of age.

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Potential Role of σ Ligands and Neurosteroids in Major Depression

Sigma Receptors ◽

10.1007/978-0-387-36514-5_14 ◽

2007 ◽

pp. 293-314

Author(s):

Guy Debonnel ◽

Malika Robichaud ◽

Jordanna Bermack

Keyword(s):

Major Depression ◽

Potential Role

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of A Case of Treatment- resistant Depression and Body Dysmorphic Disorder: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy Revisited.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.727081661.793543749 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Eric Hollander

Keyword(s):

Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽

Body Dysmorphic Disorder ◽

Treatment Resistant Depression ◽

Treatment Resistant ◽

Resistant Depression

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Bridging the gap between the immune and glutamate hypotheses of schizophrenia and major depression: Potential role of glial NMDA receptor modulators and impaired blood–brain barrier integrity

The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry ◽

10.3109/15622975.2011.583941 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 482-492 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

Johann Steiner ◽

Bernhard Bogerts ◽

Zoltán Sarnyai ◽

Martin Walter ◽

Tomasz Gos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nmda Receptor ◽

Major Depression ◽

Blood Brain Barrier ◽

Potential Role ◽

Brain Barrier ◽

Barrier Integrity ◽

Blood Brain ◽

Receptor Modulators ◽

Blood Brain Barrier Integrity

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Shortened telomere length in white matter oligodendrocytes in major depression: potential role of oxidative stress

The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology ◽

10.1017/s1461145714000698 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 17 (10) ◽

pp. 1579-1589 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Attila Szebeni ◽

Katalin Szebeni ◽

Timothy DiPeri ◽

Michelle J. Chandley ◽

Jessica D. Crawford ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oxidative Stress ◽

White Matter ◽

Major Depression ◽

Telomere Length ◽

Potential Role

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Efficacy of Electroconvulsive Therapy for Neuropathic Pain Comorbid with Major Depression

Case Reports in Psychiatry ◽

10.1155/2020/8818553 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-2

Author(s):

Masashi Ueda ◽

Yuki Konishi ◽

Kohei Sakurai ◽

Atsuko Ikenouchi ◽

Reiji Yoshimura

Keyword(s):

Neuropathic Pain ◽

Major Depression ◽

Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽

Alternative Treatment ◽

Traumatic Injury ◽

Chronic Neuropathic Pain ◽

One Year

We report a case of a 41-year-old male with postinjury neuropathic pain comorbid with major depression in which electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was effective in relieving both neuropathic pain and major depression. A total of 12 sessions of bilateral ECT were performed using a Thymatron® (Somatics LLC; Lake Bluff, IL). After ECT, the patient was subsequently maintained on paroxetine, eszopiclone (2 mg/day), and alprazolam. There was no relapse for at least one year after the last ECT. This case indicates that ECT might be an alternative treatment for major depression associated with chronic neuropathic pain after traumatic injury.

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Antidepressants in Geriatric Depression: What Difference Have They Made?

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610295002353 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 7 (S1) ◽

pp. 55-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Robert C. Baldwin

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Major Depression ◽

Electroconvulsive Therapy ◽

Tricyclic Antidepressants ◽

Later Life ◽

Geriatric Depression ◽

Residual Symptoms ◽

Methodological Problems ◽

Drug Prophylaxis

This article reviews the evidence that antidepressants have improved the prognosis of geriatric depression. It examines studies carried out in the acute, continuation, and maintenance stages of treatment. Naturalistic studies carried out after the introduction of electroconvulsive therapy indicate that about one quarter of patients with major depression in later life remain symptom-free, approximately one third experience at least one relapse but with further recovery, and the remainder have residual symptoms. In about 10% of all cases, depressive symptoms remain severe and intractable. These proportions appear to have altered little since tricyclic antidepressants became available, although recent research into drug prophylaxis suggests that better outcomes may be possible. The article reviews some of the methodological problems that research workers must address. The role of newer antidepressants in prognosis is also discussed.

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