Ketamine Comparable to ECT for Patients With Refractory Depression Without Psychosis

Ketamine is about as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) at reducing depressive symptoms in patients with treatment-resistant depression, according to astudy published this week inThe New England Journal of Medicine. These findings were also discussed during a session on Wednesday at APA ’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco.For decades, physicians have recognized ECT as an effective and fast-acting treatment option for people with refractory depression, lead study investigator Amit Anand, M.D., of Brigham and Women ’s Hospital in Boston, told Annual Meeting attendees during his presentation of the data.However, as he and colleagues wrote in theNEJMpaper, “ECT remains underused owing to limited availability, social stigma, and concerns regarding the adverse effect of cognitive impairment. … Ketamine is an attractive alternative for patients [with treatment-resistant depression] because it does not require general anesthesia and is not associated with clinically significant memory impairment.”To compare these two treatments, Anand and colleagues recruited adults aged 21 to 75 who had been referred by their clinical providers for ECT. The participants met the criteria for aDSM-5diagnosis for major depressive disorders without psychotic features. All participants were required to have a score greater than 20 on the 60-point Montgomery –Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), indicating moderate to severe depression, and to have failed to respond to at least tw...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: dissociation ECT elctroconvulsive therapy ketamine MADRS memory New England Journal of Medicine QIDS-SR refractory depression treatment-resistant depression Source Type: research