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A Seven-Month Double-Blind Trial of Amitriptyline and Diazepam in ECT-Treated Depressed Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

D. W. K. Kay ,
Thomas Fahy  and
R. F. Garside
D. W. K. Kay
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Infirmary and University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP
Thomas Fahy
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle
R. F. Garside
Affiliation:
Royal Victoria Infirmary and University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP
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Extract

The excellent immediate response of many depressive states to ECT is well established, but unfortunately relapse is common. Pare (1968) noted that it was becoming increasingly common for anti-depressant drugs to be given concomitantly with and after ECT in order to prevent relapse, but there appear to be only two reports bearing on the value of this procedure. Seager and Bird (1962), in a blind trial, followed up 28 ECT treated depressives and found that the six month relapse rate was markedly lower in those who received imipramine after discharge (17 per cent) compared with those on placebo (69 per cent). Imlah et al. (1965), in a study of 124 patients, found that a relapse rate of about 50 per cent within six months of ECT when used alone was reduced by over one half when ECT was combined with and followed by either imipramine or phenelzine, but their trial was not conducted blind. The after-care of depressed patients is so important, particularly in view of the risk of suicide, that further evidence seemed desirable.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 117 , Issue 541 , December 1970 , pp. 667 - 671
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1970 

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References

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