Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a safe and effective option.

Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a safe and effective option. Expert Rev Neurother. 2020 Mar 30;: Authors: La Torre D, Della Torre A, Chirchiglia D, Volpentesta G, Guzzi G, Lavano A Abstract Introduction: Major depression (MDD) is the leading cause of years lost to disability worldwide. Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are effective treatments in most depressive episodes: but, about the 30% of MDD patients remain symptomatic, and relapse is a common event. Recently, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as a valid therapeutic option in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) patients.Areas covered: In this paper, the authors summarize the findings of studies focused on these pathophysiologic phenomena and specifically on the role of DBS as therapeutic option in TRD patients. The authors simply reviewed RCTs, open label studies, neurophysiological mechanisms of DBS in MDD and the possible role of different targets. Finally, we suggest possible future options.Expert opinion: Depression is a systems-level disorder, involving several brain structures. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate multiple interconnected regions that modulate different neural networks. DBS can modulate different targets, and other are under investigations. Among these Subcallosal Cingulate Gyrus (SCG), Ventral Capsule and Ventral Striatum (VC/VS) seems to be the most relevant targets. We believe that, in the next future, DBS for TRD might become a first-line of ...
Source: Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics - Category: Neurology Tags: Expert Rev Neurother Source Type: research