Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: A Stepwise Psychotherapy Intervention for Reducing Risk in Coronary Artery Disease - a Randomised Controlled Trial (SPIRR-CAD)
Brief Summary: In patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), depressive symptoms are frequent and highly relevant for quality of life, health behaviour, health care costs, and prognosis. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the effects of a psychotherapy intervention on symptoms of depression in patients with CAD. Therefore, depressed patients diagnosed with CAD will be randomised into a controlled intervention trial, comparing a stepwise psychotherapy intervention with usual cardiological care. The manualized psychotherapy intervention starts with three individual sessions offered on a weekly basis. Afterwards, symptoms of depression will be re-evaluated and, in case of persisting symptoms, patients receive an additional 25 sessions of psychodynamic group psychotherapy over a total period of one year. The psychodynamic approach was chosen in order to specifically take into account personality traits such as negative affectivity and social inhibition, the components of the Type D personality, which may explain why recent cognitive behavioural psychotherapy (CBT) trials produced only small effects in depressed CAD patients. The investigators expect that the intervention will reduce depressive symptoms as well as the prevalence of depressive disorders. It will also improve both behaviourally and physiologically mediated cardiovascular risk indicators, promote better quality of life, and reduce healthcare costs. Subgroup analyses will be performed in order to identify gender-specific treatment effects, effects on immunological stress reactivity, and genetic predictors of treatment success.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosis of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)
* Eligibility for Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) in North Carolina
* Capacity to give informed consent and follow study procedures

Exclusion Criteria:

* Received heart transplant
* LVEF \< 30%
* Labile ECG changes prior to testing
* Currently using a pacemaker
* Resting BP \> 200/120 mm Hg
* Left main disease \> 50%
* Unable to comply with assessment procedures
* Unwilling or unable to be randomized to treatment groups
* Primary diagnosis of the following psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, dementia, current delirium, or other psychotic disorder
* Current alcohol or substance abuse disorder
* Acute suicide risk
* Actively undergoing ongoing psychiatric treatment
B: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Hospitalization with a verified diagnosis of unstable angina (UA) or acute myocardial infarction (AMI). UA is defined as new-onset angina within 2 months, exacerbation of previous angina with pain at rest or with minimal exercise, prolonged chest pain (lasting \> 20 minutes), or angina within 2 weeks following discharge for myocardial infarction in patients with documented coronary artery disease (defined as ischemic ECG ST-T segment changes, previously documented MI, positive nuclear treadmill test result, or coronary angiographic evidence of blockage of 50% stenosis in \>1 major coronary artery). AMI is defined as at least 2 of the following: ischemic chest pain lasting \>20 minutes, acute rise in serum troponin-I \>1.0 ng/L, and new pathologic ST segments in \>2 contiguous ECG leads.
2. Score on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) \> 10 within 7 days of index ACS event and 3-months later.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. active suicidal or homicidal ideation, as these patients require immediate referral for assessment and treatment (see below for procedures for these patients);
2. current alcohol or other substance abuse disorders (as depressive symptoms may be a result of these disorders),
3. any current psychotic disorder,
4. history of psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, or serious personality disorders,
5. diagnosis of a terminal non-cardiac illness,
6. ACS diagnosis secondary to diagnosis of a severe medical disease,
7. inability to communicate in English,
8. levels of cognitive impairment indicative of dementia,
9. unavailability for the period of the study,
10. overt hypothyroid, and
11. currently taking triptans.
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* Meets the DSM-IV criteria for a current major depressive episode
* Score of 15 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory II
* History of acute myocardial infarction, unstable angina, or documented coronary disease

Exclusion Criteria:

* Physician or patient refusal
* Lives far away from study site
* Current alcohol or drug abuse
* Psychosis, dementia, or bipolar disorder
* Already taking Omega-3
* Medically ill or disabled such that patient is unable to participate
* Comorbid illness likely to be fatal within 1 year of study entry
* Seizure disorder or takes anticonvulsants
* Pregnant or breast feeding
* Liver or kidney disease
* Severe hypertriglyceridemia (greater than 400 mg/dL)
* Bleeding or clotting disorder
* Type 2 diabetes with a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level greater than 10
* Taking lithium or monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAO-I)
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients with coronary artery disease
* German speaking men and women
* Recent coronary angiogram (\<= 3 months old)
* Depression score (HADS-D) \>= 8
* Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Severe heart failure
* Other acutely life- threatening conditions
* Severe chronic inflammatory disease
* Current suicidal tendency
* Severe depressive episode
* Other severe mental illness.

Answer: D