Identification of treatment-resistant depressives who respond favorably to carbamazepine.
Thirteen depressed patients with documented histories of failure to respond to tricyclic antidepressant medications who reported multiple partial seizure like symptoms were given open trials of carbamazepine. Eleven of the 13 showed moderate to substantial improvement in affective status that was accompanied by significant mean changes on the Beck or Hamilton depression scales. In addition, the mean number of reported partial seizure-like symptoms decreased significantly with treatment. Dichotic word listening performance was the only neuropsychological variable that was impaired at baseline and was also the only cognitive performance that improved following treatment. These preliminary observations suggest that there is likely to be a subgroup of treatment-resistant, carbamazepine-responsive depressives who can be identified by evaluating for the presence of multiple partial seizure-like symptoms.
Varney
N R
NR
Psychology Service, VA Medical Center, Iowa City, IA 52246.
Garvey
M J
MJ
Cook
B L
BL
Campbell
D A
DA
Roberts
R J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004828:Epilepsies, Partial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D002220:Carbamazepine