1. Right Prefrontal Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study
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Joan Deus, José M. Menchón, Jesús Pujol, Luisa Benlloch, Antoni Capdevila, Julio Vallejo, Narcís Cardoner, and Pino Alonso
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Adult ,Male ,Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ,medicine.medical_specialty ,medicine.medical_treatment ,Placebo-controlled study ,Prefrontal Cortex ,Stimulation ,Audiology ,behavioral disciplines and activities ,Functional Laterality ,Placebos ,Double-Blind Method ,mental disorders ,medicine ,Humans ,Young adult ,Psychiatry ,Prefrontal cortex ,Depression (differential diagnoses) ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ,Transcranial magnetic stimulation ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Treatment Outcome ,Laterality ,Female ,Psychology ,Anxiety disorder - Abstract
Objective: The efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the right prefrontal cortex for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was studied under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions. Method: Patients were randomly assigned to 18 sessions of real (N=10) or sham (N=8) rTMS. Treatments lasted 20 minutes, and the frequency was 1 Hz for both conditions, but the intensity was 110% of motor threshold for real rTMS and 20% for the sham condition. Results: No significant changes in OCD were detected in either group after treatment. Two patients who received real rTMS, with checking compulsions, and one receiving sham treatment, with sexual/religious obsessions, were considered responders. Conclusions: Low-frequency rTMS of the right prefrontal cortex failed to produce significant improvement of OCD and was not significantly different from sham treatment. Further studies are indicated to assess the efficacy of rTMS in OCD and to clarify the optimal stimulation characteristics. (Am J Psychiatry 2001; 158:1143–1145) Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed as therapeutic for different psychiatric disorders, mainly depression, although the stimulation characteristics are still controversial (1–3). Concerning obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Greenberg et al. (4) reported a significant reduction in compulsions during and 8 hours after a single session of right prefrontal rTMS. This study was designed to assess whether prolonged stimulation of the right prefrontal cortex at low frequency would produce significant improvement in a group of OCD patients under double-blind, placebo-controlled conditions.
- Published
- 2001
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