title: Therapeutic efficacy of right prefrontal slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in major depression: a double-blind controlled study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a noninvasive technique for stimulation of the brain, has recently been suggested to be effective for the treatment of major depression. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess the efficacy of slow repetitive TMS (rTMS) in patients with major depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy patients with major depression (53 women, 17 men; mean age, 58.7 years; SD, 17.2 years) were randomly assigned to receive rTMS or sham rTMS in a double-blind design. Treatment was administered in 10 daily sessions during a 2-week period. Severity of depression was blindly assessed before, during, and after completion of the treatment protocol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients completed the first week of treatment and 67 completed the entire protocol. Patients who received rTMS had a significantly greater improvement in depression scores compared with those who received sham treatment. At the end of 2 weeks, 17 of 35 patients in the rTMS group, but only 8 of 32 in the sham-treated group, had an improvement of greater than 50% in their depression ratings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This controlled study provides evidence for the short-term efficacy of slow rTMS in patients with recurrent major depression. Additional studies will be necessary to assess the efficacy of rTMS as compared with electroconvulsive therapy as well as the long-term outcome of this treatment in major depression and possibly other psychiatric disorders.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Klein
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Kreinin
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Chistyakov
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Koren
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Mecz
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Marmur
authors: D
authors: D
authors: Ben-Shachar
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Feinsod
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome