Deep Brain Stimulation May Offer Hope for Select Patients with Treatment Resistant Major Depression

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Brown University, and Massachusetts General Hospital will present results of a long-term outcome study that builds on previous promising research, which has shown that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a potentially effective treatment option for people with treatment resistant major depression.

The World Health Organization rates major depression as the top cause of disability worldwide. While many patients with major depression find relief through a combination of psychotherapy and medication, some people are left severely disabled. Patients who are most resistant to medications, psychotherapies, and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) have little hope of recovery, and suffer a heightened risk of suicide and mortality. Sadly, statistics show that the suicide rate in people with major depression is as high as 15 percent.

DBS surgery involves the placement of tiny implantable electrodes into specific parts of the brain that are functioning abnormally. These electrodes emit tiny pulses of electrical stimulation to block the abnormal activity in the brain, which causes a variety of symptoms – such as pain, tremors, movement problems; as well as obsessions, moods and anxieties associated with psychiatric disorders. The success of DBS is dependent on the surgical team’s ability to precisely pinpoint the specific brain area for stimulation. The advantage of DBS is that it is reversible, nondestructive, and can be modified by adjustment of the stimulator settings after implantation.

Ali R. Rezai, MD, director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Neurological Restoration, and a multi-center team of investigators were inspired by the success of DBS in treating the tremors associated with Parkinson's and movement disorders like dystonia and essential tremor. “Starting in 2001, we began treating patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) with promising outcomes. These findings resulted in the initiation of a subsequent trial for patients with severe and medication intractable major depression, starting in 2003,” stated Dr. Rezai.

“The preliminary results of research undertaken between 2003 and 2005 indicated that bilateral DBS of the anterior limb of the internal capsule holds promise for the treatment of intractable major depression, which led to the more extensive research results being presented today,” added Dr. Rezai.

The results of the current study, Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Depression: Long-Term Outcomes from a Prospective Multi-Center Trial, will be presented by Dr. Rezai, from 10:30 to 10:44 a.m. on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, during the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in Chicago. Co-authors are Linda Carpenter, MD, Darin Dougherty, MD, Emad Eskandar, MD, Gerhard Friehs, MD, Cynthia Kubu, PhD, Andre Machado, MD, PhD, Paul Malloy, PhD, Donald Malone, MD, Lawrence H. Price, MD, Steven Rasmussen, MD, Scott Rauch, MD, Stephen Salloway, MD, and Audrey Tyrka, MD, PhD. This multidisciplinary group consists of close collaboration between neurosurgeons, psychiatrists and psychologists from these institutions.