Lithium Continuation Therapy Following Electroconvulsive Therapy

1981 ◽  
Vol 139 (4) ◽  
pp. 284-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Coppen ◽  
M. T. Abou-Saleh ◽  
P. Milln ◽  
J. Bailey ◽  
M. Metcalfe ◽  
...  

SummaryThirty-eight depressed patients who were treated with ECT were randomly assigned to receive lithium therapy or identical-looking placebo tablets for one year after clinical recovery in a double-blind trial. The patients who received placebo tablets spent an average of 7.8 weeks with an episode of depression (either as in-patients or day-patients) during the year. In comparison, patients who received lithium spent on average 1.7 weeks with an episode (P <0.02). The trial confirms the high rate of relapses after ECT and suggests that lithium considerably reduces this morbidity. It is suggested that ECT without continuation therapy is not a satisfactory treatment of depressive illness.

1987 ◽  
Vol 151 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Abraham ◽  
P. Kulhara

The efficacy of ECT was investigated in a double-blind trial. Twenty-two patients with schizophrenia received trifluoperazine and were randomly allocated to receive eight real or eight simulated ECTs. In the first eight weeks, the group receiving real ECTs showed significantly more improvement as measured on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. However, the groups showed no significant differences from the twelfth week onwards. The superiority of real ECT was not confirmed at the end of six months.


1978 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Coppen ◽  
K. Ghose ◽  
S. Montgomery ◽  
V. A. Rama Rao ◽  
J. Bailey ◽  
...  

SummaryThirty-two patients who had responded to amitriptyline (150 mg daily) when suffering from a depressive illness were allocated either to receive placebo or to remain on the same medication for one year.Plasma concentrations of the drug were regularly estimated. There was no correlation between plasma concentration and subsequent residual affective morbidity. In spite of considerable encouragement, three of the patients did not take the prescribed amitriptyline and they all relapsed. Five out of sixteen patients who received placebo relapsed. None of the patients who continued to take amitriptyline relapsed.It is emphasized that the patients studied were selected, inasmuch as they were apparent responders to amitriptyline. It is concluded that this group of patients should continue to be treated with antidepressant medication for eight months after apparent recovery, and care should be taken to ensure the patients' compliance.


1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona K. Judd ◽  
Kate Moore ◽  
Trevor R. Norman ◽  
Graham D. Burrows ◽  
Ramesh K. Gupta ◽  
...  

The antidepressant efficacy and side effect profile of a fixed dose of 20 mg/day of fluoxetine, a specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor, were compared to those of amitriptyline. Fifty-eight patients with DSM-III-R depression were randomly assigned to receive either fluoxetine or amitriptyline. Fifty-six patients (fluoxetine N = 23, amitriptyline N = 23) completed the 6 week study. Comparable antidepressant efficacy was demonstrated for the two drugs. Patients taking fluoxetine reported less side-effects than those taking amitriptyline.


1988 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Badenoch ◽  
Jonathan Waxman ◽  
L. Boorman ◽  
B. Sidhu ◽  
H. D. Moore ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study investigated the stimulatory potential of a superactive gonadotropin releasing hormone analogue in idiopathic oligozoospermia. In a double-blind trial, 19 men were randomized to receive buserelin (D-Ser(TBU)6-GnRH ethylamide) in one of two dosages or saline, twice weekly, for twelve weeks. Treatment did not lead to a significant increase in serum concentrations of the pituitary gonadotropins or in sperm concentrations. However, in the dosages and schedules investigated, there was no inhibitory effect of the analogue. Further assessment of this approach is suggested.


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