• Cindy L Hovington, Alexander McGirr, Martin Lepage, and Marcelo T Berlim.
• Neuromodulation Program, Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
• Ann. Med. 2013 Jun 1; 45 (4): 308-21.

BackgroundIn recent years, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been developed for the treatment of major depression (MD) and schizophrenia. Although rTMS has shown some promising findings, the lack of standardization in the methodology employed has resulted in discordant findings.ObjectivesThe objective of this systematic review was to summarize several meta-analytical studies exploring the efficacy of rTMS in either MD or schizophrenia in order to examine the methodologies that increase the efficacy of rTMS and to provide some recommendations for future studies.MethodsWe searched the MEDLINE database for potentially relevant meta-analytic studies on the use of rTMS for treating major depression and schizophrenia published from January 2000 to October 2011.ResultsFifteen rTMS meta-analytical studies were reviewed (11 on MD and 5 on schizophrenia). Several variables were reviewed including outcome measures, side-effects of rTMS, site of stimulation, frequency and intensity of stimulation, and number of treatment sessions.ConclusionsOverall, rTMS appears to be an effective and promising therapeutic for both MD and schizophrenia.

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