Second run of transcranial magnetic stimulation has no effects on persistent auditory hallucinations.
We report the case of a 30-year-old male schizophrenic patient with persistent auditory hallucinations (AHs) who had received two 1-Hz transcranial magnetic stimulations (TMS) to the left temporoparietal cortex. The patient had suffered from severe persistent AHs for more than 5 years with little improvement in response to various types of combination pharmacotherapy of antipsychotics. Upon commencement of TMS, however, the patient reported substantial improvement by the end of the third week of the treatment. The patient was discharged, but readmitted 6 months later because his AHs returned to their initial severity. A second run of TMS had no therapeutic effect. Further research is needed to establish the therapeutic duration of TMS treatment and to assess whether the second run of TMS after AH re-occurrence has therapeutic benefits.
Chung
Young-Chul
YC
Department of Psychiatry, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, South Korea. chungyc@chonbuk.ac.kr
Im
Eun-Sung
ES
Cho
Gwang-Hyun
GH
Ko
Myung-Hwan
MH
D000328:Adult; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012008:Recurrence; D019233:Retreatment; D012563:Schizophrenia, Paranoid / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation; D017211:Treatment Failure