What to expect from a third step in treatment resistant depression: A prospective open study on escitalopram

Daniel Souery, Raffaella Calati, Konstantinos Papageorgiou, Alzbeta Juven-Wetzler, Joël Gailledreau, David Modavi, Othman Sentissi, William Pitchot, George N. Papadimitriou, Dimitris Dikeos, Stuart Montgomery, Siegfried Kasper, Joseph Zohar, Alessandro Serretti, Julien Mendlewicz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives. Only few studies investigated treatment strategies for treatment resistant depression (TRD). The objective of this multicentre study was to evaluate TRD patients who did not respond to at least two antidepressants. Methods. A total of 417 patients, who failed to respond to a previous retrospectively assessed antidepressant (AD1), were firstly included in a 6-week venlafaxine treatment (AD2); secondly, those who failed to respond were treated for further 6 weeks with escitalopram (AD3). Results. Out of 417 patients who had failed to respond to previous treatment (AD1), 334 completed treatment with venlafaxine to prospectively define TRD. In the intent to treat (ITT) population in the first phase of the trial (AD2), responders to venlafaxine were 151 (36.21%) out of which remitters were 83 (19.90%). After phase one, 170 non-responders, defined as TRD, were included in the second phase and 157 completed the course. Of the 170 ITT entering the second phase (AD3), responders to escitalopram were 71 (41.76%) out of which remitters were 39 (22.94%). After the third treatment, patients showed a dropout rate of 7.65% and a rate of presence of at least one serious adverse event of 19.18%. Conclusions. Relevant rates of response and remission may be observed after a third line treatment in patients resistant to two previous treatments. A relevant limitation of this study was represented by the design: naturalistic, non-randomized, open-label, without a control sample and with unblinded raters.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)472-482
Number of pages11
JournalWorld Journal of Biological Psychiatry
Volume16
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Oct 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • antidepressants
  • escitalopram
  • major depressive disorder
  • pharmacotherapy
  • resistant depression

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