Changes of functional MRI findings in a patient whose pathological gambling improved with fluvoxamine.
Legalized gambling is a growing industry, and is probably a factor in the presently increasing prevalence of pathological gambling. We present a case of a 36-year-old pathological gambler who was treated with fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and who was assessed by functional MRI before and after drug administration. During activation periods, the pathological gambler was shown cards as stimuli, and fMRI results in several brain regions showed differential effects before and after medication and a maintenance period. This case demonstrates that the treatment response to fluvoxamine in a pathological gambler was observed not only by subjective self-report, but also by objective fMRI results. Therefore, fMRI may be a useful tool in the diagnosis and prediction of treatment response in patients afflicted with pathological gambling.
Chung
Sang-Keun
SK
Department of Psychiatry, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea.
You
Il-Han
IH
Cho
Gwang-Hyun
GH
Chung
Gyung-Ho
GH
Shin
Young-Chul
YC
Kim
Dai-Jin
DJ
Choi
Sam-Wook
SW
D000328:Adult; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016666:Fluvoxamine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005715:Gambling; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D016666:Fluvoxamine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors