Post-stroke Deep Brain Stimulation

Magnetic seizure therapy might be an attractive alternative to electroconvulsive therapy to treat severe, persistent depression as per a study at the University Of California - San Diego, published in the online issue of The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a form of mental illness that defies effective therapy. It affects almost 3 million persons in the United States. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be an effective standard of care for TRD but it has many unwelcome side effects.

ECT involves passing of small electric currents through the brain under general anesthesia, that triggers a brief seizure and changes in brain chemistry that reverse symptoms of some mental health conditions, most notably depression and mania.

MST vs ECT

To overcome the side effects of ECT, the study team evaluated the efficacy of magnetic seizure therapy (MST) over the long term to prevent the relapse of TRD.

MST is a different form of electrical brain stimulation, that induces a seizure in the brain by delivering high-intensity magnetic field impulses through a magnetic coil with minimal effect on surrounding tissues and fewer cognitive side effects.

The study enrolled 30 participants with qualifying diagnoses between February 2012 and June 2019 and who had responded well to an acute course of MST. The participants received a 12 course of continuation MST over six months.

Effects of MST

It was found that one-third of the patients experienced a relapse of depression or required psychiatric hospitalization, with no significant differences between those with unipolar and bipolar depression. However, the other two-thirds sustained improvements in depressive symptoms without any adverse cognitive effects.

Moreover, participants with suicidal ideation also had sustained resolution of these symptoms throughout continuation MST. Most neurocognitive tests showed no significant differences during MST continuation. Indeed, verbal fluency improved.

These results also show that additional MST treatments repeated over a long period continued to be a safe and tolerable procedure.

Source-Medindia