A negative randomised sham-controlled trial of ventral capsule/ventral striatum stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: an unsuccessful trial or treatment?

ABSTRACT FROM: Dougherty DD, Rezai AR, Carpenter LL, et al. A randomized sham-controlled trial of deep brain stimulation of the ventral capsule/ventral striatum for chronic treatment-resistant depression. Biol Psychiatry 2014. Published Online First. What is already known on this topic The evidence from multiple open-label trials documents the efficacy and safety of Deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of refractory depression (TRD).1 Nonetheless, randomised sham-control trials are required to determine whether the effect is directly related to active electrical stimulation or to the non-stimulation effects. Methods of the study This was a multicentre randomised sham-controlled trial of DBS at the ventral capsule/ventral striatum (VC/VS). Thirty patients with chronic, non-psychotic, unipolar TRD were recruited from five centres that used comparable surgical targeting, in the USA. Patients received active or sham stimulation (1:1) in a double-blinded fashion for 16 weeks, followed by a 24-month open-label phase...
Source: Evidence-Based Mental Health - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Miscellaneous Source Type: research