• Jennifer L Vande Voort, Robert J Morgan, Simon Kung, Keith G Rasmussen, Jose Rico, Brian A Palmer, Kathryn M Schak, Susannah J Tye, Matthew J Ritter, Mark A Frye, and William V Bobo.
• Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Mayo Clinic Depression Center, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
• J Affect Disord. 2016 Dec 1; 206: 300-304.

BackgroundLittle is known about the antidepressive effects of repeated intravenous ketamine infusions beyond the acute phase of treatment in patients with refractory depression.MethodsTwelve subjects with treatment-resistant non-psychotic unipolar or bipolar major depression and suicidal ideation were given repeated (up to 6) thrice-weekly acute-phase intravenous infusions of ketamine (0.5mg/kg, administered over 100min). Those who remitted during acute-phase treatment received continuation-phase treatment that consisted of 4 weekly ketamine infusions, followed by 4 weeks of post-continuation phase follow-up (during which no further ketamine infusions were administered). Clinical measures were assessed at baseline, at 24h following each infusion, at the last acute-phase observation, and during continuation and post-continuation follow-up (acute phase remitters only).ResultsOf the 12 enrollees, 5 (41.7%) remitted and 7 (58.3%) responded to ketamine treatment during the acute-phase. All five subjects who remitted during the acute-phase experienced further depressive symptom improvement during continuation-phase treatment. Four subjects lost remission status during the post-continuation phase, but all were still classified as positive treatment responders at the end of the post-continuation phase. Adverse effects were generally mild and transient during acute- and continuation-phase treatment; however, one subject developed behavioral outbursts and suicide threats during follow-up while hospitalized, and one subject died by suicide several weeks after the end of follow-up.LimitationsThis was an uncontrolled feasibility study with a small sample size.ConclusionsThe continuation-phase administration of ketamine at weekly intervals to patients with treatment-resistant depression who remitted during acute-phase ketamine treatment can extend the duration of depressive symptom remission. The antidepressive effect of ketamine persisted for several weeks after the end of continuation-phase treatment. Our results highlight the need for close monitoring of subjects who are at high baseline risk for suicide but do not respond clinically to ketamine. CLINICALTRIALS.Gov IdentifierNCT02094898.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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