Ketamine noninferior in terms of response to treatment; ECT linked to decrease in memory recall after treatment<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b><\/p>\n
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WEDNESDAY, May 31, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For patients with treatment-resistant major depression without psychosis, ketamine is noninferior to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), according to a study published online May 24 in the New England Journal of Medicine <\/em>to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, held from May 20 to 24 in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Amit Anand, M.D., from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted an open-label, randomized, noninferiority trial involving patients referred to ECT clinics for treatment-resistant major depression without psychosis. Participants were recruited and randomly assigned to receive ketamine or ECT (200 and 203 individuals, respectively); patients received ECT three times per week or ketamine twice per week during an initial three-week treatment phase. Ketamine was administered to 195 patients and ECT to 170.<\/p>\n The researchers found that 55.4 and 41.2 percent of patients in the ketamine and ECT groups, respectively, had a response to treatment (decrease of \u00e2\u0089\u00a550 percent from baseline in the score on the 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self-Report; difference, 14.2 percentage points; P < 0.001 for noninferiority of ketamine to ECT). After three weeks of treatment, ECT seemed to be associated with a decrease in memory recall, with gradual recovery during follow-up. The two groups had similar improvement in patient-reported quality of life.<\/p>\n “People with treatment-resistant depression suffer a great deal, so it is exciting that studies like this are adding new options for them,” Anand said in a statement. “With this real-world trial, the results are immediately transferable to the clinical setting.”<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)<\/a><\/p>\n