title: Pretreatment frontal EEG and changes in suicidal ideation during SSRI treatment in major depressive disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated frontal quantitative EEG (QEEG) as predictor of changes in suicidal ideation (SI) during SSRI treatment in major depressive disorder (MDD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-two subjects meeting DSM-IV criteria for MDD entered an 8-week, prospective, open-label treatment with flexible dose SSRIs and completed at least 4 weeks of treatment. We assessed MDD severity with the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D-17); change in SI was measured with HAM-D item no. 3. We recorded four-channel EEGs (F7-Fpz, F8-Fpz, A1-Fpz, A2-Fpz) before treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the first 4 weeks of treatment 9 (11%) subjects experienced worsening SI. Left-right asymmetry of combined theta + alpha power correlated significantly with change in SI from baseline, even when adjusting for changes in depression severity (HAM-D-17) and for the SSRI utilized.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Frontal QEEG parameters before treatment may predict worsening SI during SSRI treatment in MDD.
authors.affiliation: Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. diosifescu@partners.org
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Iosifescu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Greenwald
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Perlis
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Denninger
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fava
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors