Normalisation of the dexamethasone suppression test: a correlate of clinical improvement in primary depressives.
Thirty-six patients with a primary depressive illness, admitted consecutively to hospital, were studied. All patients had a pre-treatment DST, followed by weekly DSTs during a six-week treatment period. Three categories of DST response were identified, on the basis of the serial DSTs. All three groups showed improvement with treatment: the two non-suppressor groups showed normalisation of the DST over the treatment period, but only the normalising nonsuppressors showed a significant correlation between DST normalisation and clinical improvement.
D000328:Adult; D000639:Amitriptyline / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D003907:Dexamethasone; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors
D000639:Amitriptyline; D003907:Dexamethasone; D006854:Hydrocortisone