Efficacy of Tranylcypromine in Bipolar Depression: A Systematic Review.

Objective: Currently, there is a paucity of treatment options with limited efficacy for bipolar depression. The monoamine oxidase inhibitor tranylcypromine might be an effective form of treatment. The current systematic review reassesses the efficacy and safety of tranylcypromine in bipolar depression.

Refractory major depression successfully treated with electroconvulsive therapy in a patient with Addison disease.

This report describes a 55-year-old woman who had 1 previous episode of major depression that responded favorably to treatment with tricyclic antidepressants. After the development of Addison disease, she experienced a new episode of major depression that failed to respond to adequate treatment with imipramine and was subsequently successfully treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with steroid cover. The patient did not experience adrenal crisis or adverse effects.

Efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in bipolar versus unipolar major depression: a meta-analysis.

Objective: Bipolar major depression differs considerably from unipolar major depression with regard to the efficacy of treatment with antidepressants. In bipolar depression, response to treatment with antidepressants is disappointing. Whether response to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) differs between bipolar and unipolar depression remains unclear.

Antidepressant pharmacotherapy failure and response to subsequent electroconvulsive therapy: a meta-analysis.

Failure to respond to antidepressants probably is the most common indication for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The literature seems to be divided as to whether medication resistance has a negative influence on the efficacy of subsequent ECT. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to investigate the effect of previous pharmacotherapy failure on the efficacy of ECT.

Treatment failure with a tricyclic antidepressant followed by lithium addition and response to subsequent electroconvulsive therapy.

Objective: To examine the predictive value of resistance to a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) and lithium with respect to the efficacy of subsequent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Method: This open prospective study was conducted in the inpatient depression unit of a university hospital in The Netherlands. Patients were enrolled in the study from October 1996 to June 2002 and had to meet DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder.