Some statistically significant differences between citalopram and other antidepressants for the acute phase treatment of major depression were found in terms of efficacy , tolerability and acceptability .
Citalopram was more efficacious than paroxetine and reboxetine and more acceptable than tricyclics , reboxetine and venlafaxine , however , it seemed to be less efficacious than escitalopram .
BACKGROUND Recent US and UK clinical practice guidelines recommend that second-generation antidepressants should be considered amongst the best first-line options when drug therapy is indicated for a depressive episode .
Systematic review s have already highlighted some differences in efficacy between second-generation antidepressants .
Citalopram , one of the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRI ) introduced in the market , is one of these antidepressant drugs that clinicians use for routine depression care .
OBJECTIVES To assess the evidence for the efficacy , acceptability and tolerability of citalopram in comparison with tricyclics , heterocyclics , other SSRIs and other conventional and non-conventional antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of major depression .
The effect of dermatologic precautions on the incidence of rash with addition of lamotrigine in the treatment of bipolar I disorder: a randomized trial.
OBJECTIVE Prescribing recommendations specify that lamotrigine should ordinarily be discontinued at the first sign of rash , regardless of its type and severity , unless the rash is clearly not drug related . This practice helps to ensure that lamotrigine is discontinued in instances of serious rash ( an event occurring in up to 0.13 % of cases in bipolar clinical trials ) but may lead to unnecessary discontinuation of lamotrigine for cases of nonserious rash arising from nondrug causes . Measures aim ed at reducing overall occurrence of dermatologic reactions might reduce the incidence of nonserious rash leading to premature lamotrigine discontinuation . This study assessed the impact of specific instructions design ed to decrease risk of dermatologic reactions , including nonserious rash , during initiation of and early treatment with lamotrigine in patients with bipolar I disorder . METHOD Out patients with DSM-IV-diagnosed bipolar I disorder > /= 13 years of age at 188 sites were r and omly assigned to receive Usual Care Pre caution s ( UCP ; pre caution s from the patient instructions in the prescribing information for reducing risk of rash including nonserious rash ) or Dermatologic Pre caution s ( DP ; pre caution s as above [ UCP ] plus additional pre caution s intended to decrease risk of any dermatologic reaction including nonserious rash ) during 12 weeks of adding open-label lamotrigine to concomitant medications . Patients with comorbid medical and psychiatric problems were not excluded unless , in the opinion of the investigators , these problems were sufficiently severe to preclude participation . Investigators and patients were blinded to which pre caution group patients were r and omly assigned . The primary outcome measure was the rate of rash during the treatment period . Secondary outcome measures included clinical response to lamotrigine  , assessed with the investigator- and self-rated Clinical Global Impressions-Bipolar version ( CGI-BP ) and the Clinical Global Impressions-Efficacy Index ( CGI-EI ) . Data were collected from August 2003 to August 2004 . RESULTS 867 ( 74 % ) of 1175 patients completed the study . Only 182 ( 15 % ) of 1175 patients had an adverse event leading to discontinuation of study medication or withdrawal , including 62 ( 5.3 % ) of 1175 due to non-serious rash . No serious rashes were reported during the study in either group . The incidence of nonserious rash was similarly low in patients with UCP and DP ( 8.8 % and 8.6 % , respectively ) . CGI-BP-Severity and -Improvement scores indicated mood improvement when lamotrigine was added to existing therapy , and CGI-EI scores at weeks 5 and 12 reflected a favorable balance between control of mood symptoms and tolerability . At both weeks 5 and 12 , investigators reported that therapeutic effects of additional lamotrigine outweighed side effects in 74 % of subjects . CONCLUSION UCP and DP yielded low , similar non-serious rash rates , which were marginally lower than nonserious rash rates in prior clinical trials that did not utilize DP but marginally higher than that in a prior open case series using DP . Nevertheless , the results are encouraging : in this large study reflecting real-world use , lamotrigine was well tolerated with no serious rash and low incidences of nonserious rash and discontinuation due to rash , and lamotrigine therapy was associated with clinical improvement in a heterogeneous cohort of patients with bipolar I disorder
Some statistically significant differences between citalopram and other antidepressants for the acute phase treatment of major depression were found in terms of efficacy , tolerability and acceptability .
Citalopram was more efficacious than paroxetine and reboxetine and more acceptable than tricyclics , reboxetine and venlafaxine , however , it seemed to be less efficacious than escitalopram .
BACKGROUND Recent US and UK clinical practice guidelines recommend that second-generation antidepressants should be considered amongst the best first-line options when drug therapy is indicated for a depressive episode .
Systematic review s have already highlighted some differences in efficacy between second-generation antidepressants .
Citalopram , one of the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRI ) introduced in the market , is one of these antidepressant drugs that clinicians use for routine depression care .
OBJECTIVES To assess the evidence for the efficacy , acceptability and tolerability of citalopram in comparison with tricyclics , heterocyclics , other SSRIs and other conventional and non-conventional antidepressants in the acute-phase treatment of major depression .