TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Vagus nerve stimulation therapy in treatment-resistant depression: a series report
JO  - Psychiatry and the Clinical Neurosciences
A1  - Tisi, Giuseppe
A1  - Franzini, Angelo
A1  - Messina, Giuseppe
A1  - Savino, Mario
A1  - Gambini, Orsola
SP  - 606
EP  - 611
VL  - 68
IS  - 8
N2  - AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) as a therapeutic option for treatment-resistant depression (TRD), with follow-up periods of 1, 3 and 5 years after VNS surgery. <br><br>METHODS: We examined 27 consecutive patients with unipolar TRD. Depressive symptoms were evaluated both at baseline and at follow-up after the surgery by means of the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D 21). <br><br>RESULTS: The mean HAM-D preoperative score was 25.6. Twenty-two patients were evaluated after 1 year of treatment, and the mean improvement of the HAM-D score was of 10.3. Five patients (20%) went into complete remission (HAM-D < 7) after 1 year, six patients (22.3%) were considered responders (50% reduction of HAM-D scoring) and eight patients had score reduction of less then 20%. Nineteen patients were evaluated after 24-36 months: the average improvement on the HAM-D score was of 12.1 points (47.2%). One patient went into complete remission and eight patients (42.1%) were responders. Up to the present date, seven patients have undergone re-evaluation at 48-60 months from surgery showing an average score reduction of 14.2. Two more patients obtained complete remission, while four of them did not have any improvement since their last follow-up control visit. <br><br>CONCLUSION: VNS antidepressant was successful in 20% of TRD patients, although some patients required several months to obtain clinical improvement or remission of symptomatology. Nonetheless this procedure can be considered as a useful option in treating TRD.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1323-1316
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -