Biography
Biography: Jan Fawcett
Abstract
This study will present data showing that psychopharmacotherapy can help patients with treatment resistant depression recover who have not benefitted from electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Both pramipexole (PPX) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI) often augmented with stimulants will lift a patients’ depression that has been considered treatment resistant quite often. ECT has been considered by experts in the field, the most effective treatment for treatment resistant patients. This study show that this often may not be the case and that certain particular psychopharmacologic treatments should be considered. The data presented includes a clinical sample of 42 consecutive patients treated with high dose PPX who failed at least 4 prior antidepressant treatments and followed for an average of 15.9 months as well as a sample of 20 patients who failed to benefit from ECT who benefitted greatly from high dose PPX. This study additionally reviews already published articles with data showing the therapeutic effects of treatment resistant patients treated with MAOI’s augmented by stimulants. The concept and definition of treatment resistant depression and the presenter’s algorithm for approaching this problem will be reviewed. The dose and management of side effects, as well as the relationship with the patient has a great deal to do with the success of these treatments.