Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder Post Stroke With Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (TDCS): Randomized, Double-Blind, Clinical Trial
Brief Summary: Stroke is one of the main public health problems in America Latina. It can be associated with several neuropsychiatric complications, which include a broad spectrum of emotional distress and cognitive, results in important clinical implications for the prognosis of these patients. Depression is a common complication, affecting around 5-72% of patients and is associated with various cognitive deficits and also with increased mortality - up to 50% more deaths compared to non-depressed patients. Treatment of depression after stroke is important not only to improve depressive symptoms but can also be beneficial for cognitive deficits, activities of daily living. and leads to increased survival for these patients. There are different treatments for depression after stroke, all showing inconclusive results, even though antidepressants have been effective in some groups of patients, tolerability and treatment adherence were not very good-so it is necessary that new therapeutic modalities are presented with good tolerability. In this sense, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an interesting technique that can provide interesting results, which proved to be effective for depression in some studies. This study proposes to investigate the effect of tDCS for the treatment of major depressive disorder after stroke. The proposed design is a clinical trial, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in a subsample of participants in the prospective cohort of stroke: Study of Morbidity and Mortality of stroke. They will be allocated to one of the groups: sham or active tDCS group. Participants will receive ten consecutive days of active or sham stimulation and return at the end of two weeks to evaluate the improvement in depression, cognition and functionality. As objectives, the investigators expect to see a clinical improvement of depression through scales like Hamilton, Beck and MADRS(Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale), and expect improvement on cognitive tests as MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment), MMSE (mini mental scale exam), FAB (frontal assessment battery) and trail test. Another goal is to see improvement in markers related to depression as BDNF, cortisol, interleukins and heart rate variability. With all this, the investigators hope to offer a new treatment, and effective with few side effects to treat depression after stroke.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* being adults (over 18 years old),
* suffered an acute stroke within the last month,
* medically stable,
* sufficient cognitive functioning to participate (assessed by their physician/stroke team and acceptable Raven's score (see below),
* interested in participating,
* able to understand and speak Norwegian, and
* able to give informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

* moderate to severe dementia or other serious disease.

Persons with aphasia will be examined by a speech therapist and excluded if they have significant impressive aphasia or severe expressive aphasia inconsistent with participating in the dialogues.
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* Adults older than 20 years
* Patients with acute stroke (ischemic stroke or cerebral hemorrhage) confirmed by neuroimaging within 21 days after stroke onset
* Patients with hemorrhagic transformation of infarcted tissue will not be included, but if investigators judge the risk of bleeding is small (i.e., reduced amount of blood in follow-up neuroimaging) those patients can be enrolled.
* Patients with MRS ≥ 2 on screening
* Patients without definite history of depression
* Patients who fulfill the following criteria in the K-MADRS test:

The combined score of the 9th question (pessimistic thoughts) and the 10th question (suicidal idea) ≤ 7 The score of the 10th question \< 6

* Patients without serious communication problem
* Patients who agree to participate in this trial

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patients with MRS 0 or 1 on screening
* Patients who have definite history of depression or have taken antidepressants
* Patients who have been diagnosed as having bipolar disorder or other psychiatric disorders
* Patients with severe dementia or aphasia. However, those who have motor aphasia but are still communicable can be enrolled
* Patients who have taken migraine medication on screening or those who are expected to take migraine medication frequently due to severe migraine
* Patients who have strong suicidal idea on screening test or those who express their wish to be treated for depression
* Patients who are considered to be treated for depression by charged physicians
* Patients who need SSRI medication for other reasons
* Patients who have taken antiepileptic drugs on screening
* Patients who have a history of traumatic brain injury, brain tumor, or other brain disease (except stroke) within 30 days prior to screening
* Patients with uncommon causes of stroke (e.g. subarachnoid hemorrhage, venous thrombosis, arteriovenous malformation, or Moyamoya disease)
* Patients with bleeding diathesis, hemophilia, or thrombocytopenia
* Patients with severe concomitant illness (e.g. liver disease, renal disease, malignancy)
* Patients with abnormal blood tests Abnormal LFT (ALT \> 200 or AST \> 200) Anemia (Hb \< 8 mg/dl) or thrombocytopenia (\<100,000/mm3) Renal insufficiency (Cr \> 3.0 mg/dl) or renal failure requiring dialysis Patients with severe heart failure (NYHA class III or IV) NYHA classification for heart failure Class I : patients with no limitation of activities; they suffer no symptoms from Ordinary activities Class II : patients with slight, mild limitation of activity; they are comfortable with rest or with mild exertion Class III : patients with marked limitation of activity; they are comfortable only at rest Class IV : patients who should be at complete rest, confined to bed or chair; any activity brings on
* Pregnant or lactating patients
* Patients who are participating in another clinical trial, but those who are participating in the observational study can be enrolled
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* hospitalized for an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke (intraparenchymal hemorrhage- IPH or subarachnoid hemorrhage - SAH) in the past 3 months
* clinical depression symptoms (Geriatric Depression Score -GDS \>= 11

Exclusion Criteria:

* major psychiatric co-morbidity
* active suicidal ideation without ability to contract for safety
* current substance abuse
* physical inability to tolerate 1-2 hour sessions
* receptive or global aphasia
* reduced level of consciousness (GCS\<15).
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Major Depressive Disorder after stroke
* First episode of Stroke
* Hamilton \> 17

Exclusion Criteria:

* Others severe neurologic conditions
* Others Axis I besides anxiety
* Important suicidal ideation
* Use of antidepressants

Answer: D