| Paper authors: | Daniel M. Blumberger, Fidel Vila-Rodriguez, Kevin E. Thorpe, Kfir Feffer, Yoshihiro Noda, Peter Giacobbe, Yuliya Knyahnytska, Sidney H. Kennedy, Raymond W. Lam, Zafiris J. Daskalakis, Jonathan Downar |
| Year of paper publication: | 2018 |
| Post authors: | Caleb Pozdnikoff, Sarah Kesler, Fidel Vila-Rodriguez |
| Check out the research article here: | Blumberger et al. (2018) Effectiveness of theta burst versus high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with depression (THREE-D): a randomised non-inferiority trial |
Introduction
For treatment resistant-depression (TRD), there is a standard form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment. This form lasts for 37.5 minutes; a considerable amount of time for one treatment. Could there be a way to decrease the amount of time each rTMS treatment takes while remaining effective?
This is the question this study answers by examining a new form of rTMS. Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a form of rTMS that uses patterned bursts of stimulation. This pattern mimics the rhythms of brain waves that normally occur in the brain. Significantly, iTBS only takes 3 minutes.
The goal of this study was to see if the time rTMS treatments take can be reduced while remaining as effective by using this new form.
Methods
The researchers of this study randomly assigned 414 patients with treatment-resistant depression into one of two groups. One group received traditional rTMS, and the other received iTBS. All participants were offered 20 treatments. If a patient did not meet criteria for a significant reduction in depressive symptoms after 20 treatments, they were offered an additional 10 treatments.
The researchers administered questionnaires to participants every fifth treatment to monitor depressive symptoms, and another 3 questionnaires after the treatment finished. The results of these questionnaires were compared between the two groups.
Results
- iTBS was found to be as effective as traditional rTMS
- Traditional rTMS and iTBS had similar safety, tolerability, and side effects
Conclusion
The researchers of this study found that iTBS was as effective as traditional rTMS for reducing depressive symptoms in people with treatment-resistant depression. Both iTBS and traditional rTMS demonstrated similar safety, side-effects, and tolerability. Since iTBS is much shorter than traditional rTMS, offering iTBS may make attending rTMS treatments more accessible. Also, the shorter treatment time may facilitate the possibility of doing multiple treatments per day to shorten the amount of weeks rTMS treatments usually take.