A 3-month, follow-up, randomized, placebo-controlled study of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in depression.

Background/objective: There is evidence for an antidepressant effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), but little is known about posttreatment course. Therefore, we conducted a placebo-controlled, double-blind study in depressed patients in order to investigate the effect of rTMS on depression over 12 weeks after completion of the 2-week stimulation period.

Method: 55 patients with a moderate or severe DSM-IV major depressive episode were randomly assigned to rTMS or sham treatment.