Depression Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Depression, including details on clinical depression, medication, symptoms, treatment, counselling, therapy.

Antidepressant therapy in post-stroke depression.

Starkstein SE, Mizrahi R, Power BD

University of Western Australia, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Australia. ses@cyllene.uwa.edu.au

BACKGROUND: About 40% of patients with stroke will develop depression at some stage after the acute event. Post-stroke depression (PSD) is associated with a poor prognosis. Depressed patients have more severe deficits in activities of daily living, a worse functional outcome, more severe cognitive deficits and increased mortality as compared to stroke patients without depression. OBJECTIVE: This review will focus on available controlled trials of treatment for PSD. METHODS: An unsystematic review of recent studies for the treatment of PSD. RESULTS: Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy of sertraline, citalopram and nortriptyline to treat post-stroke depression. Whether antidepressant medication may help to prevent post-stroke depression and decrease post-stroke mortality will require further controlled studies.

Published 13 May 2008 in Expert Opin Pharmacother, 9(8): 1291-8.
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