Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:20:18.395Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Seven-Month Double-Blind Trial of Amitriptyline and Diazepam in ECT-Treated Depressed Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

D. W. K. Kay ,
Thomas Fahy  and
R. F. Garside
D. W. K. Kay
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Infirmary and University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP
Thomas Fahy
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle
R. F. Garside
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Infirmary and University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The excellent immediate response of many depressive states to ECT is well established, but unfortunately relapse is common. Pare (1968) noted that it was becoming increasingly common for anti-depressant drugs to be given concomitantly with and after ECT in order to prevent relapse, but there appear to be only two reports bearing on the value of this procedure. Seager and Bird (1962), in a blind trial, followed up 28 ECT treated depressives and found that the six month relapse rate was markedly lower in those who received imipramine after discharge (17 per cent) compared with those on placebo (69 per cent). Imlah et al. (1965), in a study of 124 patients, found that a relapse rate of about 50 per cent within six months of ECT when used alone was reduced by over one half when ECT was combined with and followed by either imipramine or phenelzine, but their trial was not conducted blind. The after-care of depressed patients is so important, particularly in view of the risk of suicide, that further evidence seemed desirable.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 117 , Issue 541 , December 1970 , pp. 667 - 671
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1970 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mandelson, M., Mark, J., and Esbaugh, J., (1961). ‘An inventory for measuring depression.’ Arch. gen. Psychiat., 4, 53–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blackwell, B., and Shepherd, M., (1967). ‘Early evaluation of psychotropic drugs in man: a trial that failed.’ Lancet ii 819.Google Scholar
Gundlach, R., et al. (1966). ‘A double-blind outpatient study of diazepam (Valium) and placebo.’ Psychopharmacologia, 9, 81–92.Google Scholar
Hamilton, M., (1960). ‘A rating scale for depression.’ J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat., 23, 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hordern, A., Burt, C. G., Holt, N. G., and Code, J. F. J., (1965). Depressive States and Pharmacotherapeutic Study. Springfield, Illinois: C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Imlah, N. W., Ryan, E., and Harrington, J. A., (1965). ‘The influence of antidepressant drugs on the response to electroconvulsive therapy and on subsequent relapse rates.’ J. Newopsychopharm., 4, 439–42.Google Scholar
Lubin, B. (1965). ‘An adjective check list for measurement of depression.’ Arch. gen. Psychiat., 12, 57–62.Google Scholar
McDowall, A., Owen, S., and Robin, A. A., (1966). ‘A controlled comparison of diazepam and amylobarbitone in anxiety states.’ Brit. J. Psychiat., 112, 629–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pare, B. (1968). ‘Recent advances in the treatment of depression,’ in Recent Development in Affective Disorders, ed. Coppen, A., and Walk, A. Brit. J. Psychiat., Special Publication No. 2.Google Scholar
Rao, A. V. (1964). ‘A controlled trial with Valium in obsessive compulsive state.’ J. Ind. med. Assoc., 42, 564–7.Google Scholar
Ryan, H. F., Merrill, F. B., Scott, G. E., Krebs, R., and Thompson, B. L. (1968). ‘Increase in suicidal thoughts and tendencies associated with diazepam therapy.’ J. Amer. med. Ass., 203, 1137–39.Google Scholar
Seager, C. P., and Bird, R. L., (1962). ‘Imipramine with electrical treatment in depression—a controlled trial.’ J. ment. Sci., 108, 704–7.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.