Escitalopram, Problem-Solving Therapy, and Poststroke Depression—Reply
- Robert G. Robinson, MD robert-robinson@uiowa.edu;
- Ricardo E. Jorge, MD;
- Stephan Arndt, PhDDepartment of PsychiatryUniversity of Iowa Carver College of MedicineIowa City
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- DATA INTERPRETATION, STATISTICAL
- DEPRESSION
- DIAGNOSIS
- DRUG THERAPY
- ESCITALOPRAM
- NEUROPROTECTIVE AGENTS
- PROBLEM SOLVING
- PSYCHOTHERAPY
- SEROTONIN UPTAKE INHIBITORS
- SERTRALINE
- STROKE
In Reply: Drs Schulte-Herbrüggen and Röpke question whether the treatment with escitalopram may have provided some neuroprotective function through mechanisms such as neurogenesis or increase in neuropeptides that have been identified in animal models of neuropathology. We only assessed activities of daily living and cognitive function. We did not find any significant time × treatment interaction in Functional Independence Measure scores over the course of the year. We also found no significant differences in recurrent stroke or hospitalization for cardiovascular illness. It is possible, however, that longer-term follow-up may show lower differential rates of recurrence of stroke or cardiovascular morbidity or mortality.1
Dr Dettling and colleagues question whether an item-by-item comparison of HDRS scores may have demonstrated significant effects related to hemispheric brainstem or cerebellar lesion location and their effect on depressive symptoms. We have previously tried to examine this issue of syndromic presentation of depressive disorder in patients with cortical …
