Relapse Prevention in Major Depressive Disorder After Successful Acute Electroconvulsive Treatment: a 6-month Double-blind Comparison of Three Fixed Dosages of Escitalopram and a Fixed Dose of Nortriptyline - Lessons from a Failed Randomised Trial of the Danish University Antidepressant Group (DUAG-7).

Introduction: Electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) is an effective treatment for severe depression but carries a risk of relapse in the following months.

Methods: Major depressive disorder patients in a current episode attaining remission from ECT (17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D17) score≤9) received randomly escitalopram 10 mg, 20 mg, 30 mg or nortriptyline 100 mg as monotherapies and were followed for 6 months in a multicentre double-blind set-up. Primary endpoint was relapse (HAM-D17≥16).

Transient serotonin toxicity evoked by combination of electroconvulsive therapy and fluoxetine.

The serotonin syndrome has been described only in rare instances for electroconvulsive therapy combined with an antidepressant medication. We describe a case of serotonin toxicity induced by electroconvulsive therapy in combination with fluoxetine.

The validity of the depression rating scales in discriminating between citalopram and placebo in depression recurrence in the maintenance therapy of elderly unipolar patients with major depression.

The World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry guidelines for treatment of unipolar major depression has recommended three depression rating scales for evaluating outcome: The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Bech-Rafaelsen Melancholia Scale (MES). In this study we evaluated the ability of these scales to differentiate between citalopram and placebo in the recurrence prevention of unipolar depression. The study is a psychometric reexamination of a trial on the efficacy of citalopram versus placebo in the maintenance therapy of elderly patients with unipolar depression.

Efficacy of citalopram in the prevention of recurrent depression in elderly patients: placebo-controlled study of maintenance therapy.

Background: The highly recurrent nature of major depression in the young and the elderly warrants long-term antidepressant treatment.

Aims: To compare the prophylactic efficacy of citalopram and placebo in elderly patients; to evaluate long-term tolerability of citalopram.

Method: Out-patients, > or =65 years, with unipolar major depression (DSM-IV: 296.