Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:945-948
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Prediction of relapse with the TRH test and prophylactic amitriptyline in 39 patients with endogenous depression
I Krog-Meyer, C Kirkegaard, B Kijne, B Lumholtz, E Smith, L Lykke-Olesen and N Bjorum
The authors conducted a double-blind prospective study of 39 patients with
unipolar endogenous depression who recovered after ECT. Thyrotropin
(TSH)-releasing hormone (TRH) tests were performed before and after ECT.
Patients were divided into three groups on the basis of their altered TSH
response: Persistent remission was predicted for patients in group 1 (N =
15) and relapse was predicted for groups 2A (N = 13) and 2B (N = 11).
Patients in groups 1 and 2A received placebo and those in group 2B received
amitriptyline for 6 months. Fewer relapses occurred in groups 1 and 2B than
in group 2A (p less than .05), showing that relapse can be predicted by the
TRH test and prevented by amitriptyline.
