The Task Force examines the present status of studies investigating the
relationship between blood plasma concentrations of tricyclic
antidepressants and clinical outcome. It discusses some of the
discrepancies that have developed among various antidepressant drugs and
evaluates the clinical implications of the current status of blood level
monitoring. The Task Force concludes that plasma level measurements of
imipramine, desmethylimipramine, and nortriptyline are unequivocally
clinically useful in certain situations, that these measurements are
helpful in many situations, and that plasma level measurements are likely
to grow in usefulness.
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