Clinical trial NCT00367003: Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression
Official title: Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Major Depressive Disorder
Keywords: Depression, Unipolar, Bipolar-II, DBS, Imaging
Lead sponsor: Emory University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: The Dana Foundation
First posted: 2006-08-22
Enrollment: 37
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 70
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to test the safety, efficacy and mechanism of action of subgenual cingulate (Cg25) deep brain stimulation (DBS) for major depression in patients who have not responded to prior antidepressant treatments. Participation in the study will continue for ten years or until the device receives FDA approval for depression. Forty (40) patients will be enrolled in this study.

Detailed description: Major Depression is one of the most common and costly of all psychiatric disorders. While depression can be effectively treated in the majority of patients by either medication or some form of evidence-based psychotherapy, up to 20% of patients fail to respond to standard interventions. For these patients, trial-and-error combinations of multiple medications and electroconvulsive therapy are often required. For patients who remain severely depressed despite these aggressive approaches, new strategies are needed.

Converging clinical, biochemical, neuroimaging, and post-mortem data suggest depression is unlikely to be a disease of a single brain region or neurotransmitter system. Rather, it is now generally viewed as a systems-level disorder affecting integrated pathways linking select cortical, subcortical and limbic sites and their related neurotransmitter and molecular mediators. Treatments for depression can be viewed within a limbic-cortical system framework, where different modes of treatment modulate specific regional targets, resulting in a variety of complementary, adaptive chemical and molecular changes that re-establish a normal mood state. Functional neuroimaging studies have played a critical role in characterizing these limbic-cortical pathways. Previous studies have demonstrated consistent involvement of the subgenual cingulate (Cg25) in both acute sadness and antidepressant treatment effects, suggesting a critical role for this region in modulating negative mood states.

This study will test whether high frequency deep brain stimulation of the subgenual cingulate white matter (Cg25-DBS) is a safe and efficacious antidepressant treatment in forty patients with treatment resistant depression, and to investigate potential mechanisms of action of this intervention.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria:

* Ability to provide written informed consent.
* Current Major Depressive Episode (MDE), secondary to either Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder (I, II or NOS), diagnosed by structured clinical interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-text revision (DSM-IV-TR).
* Current MDE at least two years duration OR a history of more than 4 lifetime depressive episodes.
* Minimum score at study entry of 20 on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17).
* Average pre-operative HDRS-17 score of 20 or greater (averaged over four weekly pre-surgical evaluations during the four weeks prior to surgery) and an average pre-operative HDRS-17 score no more than 30% lower than the baseline screening HDRS-17 score.
* A maximum Global Assessment of Functioning of 50.
* Treatment-resistant depression defined as:

  * Failure to respond to a minimum of four different antidepressant treatments, including at least three medications from at least three different classes, evidence-based psychotherapy or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) administered at adequate doses and duration during the current episode.
  * Failure or intolerance of an adequate course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) during any episode (confirmed by medical records), or refusal of ECT due to a reason considered to be valid by the study psychiatrist.
* A patient may remain on psychotropic medications during this study. However, doses must remain stable during the 4 weeks prior to surgery, the four weeks post-operatively, and the 24 weeks open stimulation phase. Medications will be changed only if intolerable side effects clearly attributable to the medications develop.
* All patients must have an established outpatient psychiatrist and be willing to sign a written release to allow study investigators to give and receive information from this psychiatrist.

Exclusion criteria:

* Inability to tolerate general anesthesia.
* Significant cerebrovascular risk factors or a previous stroke, documented major head trauma or neurodegenerative disorder.
* Other currently active clinically significant Axis I psychiatric diagnosis including schizophrenia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. Patients with severe Axis II personality disorders will also be excluded if the personality disorder is likely to interfere with cooperation and adherence to the study protocol.
* Current psychotic symptoms.
* Evidence of global cognitive impairment.
* Substance abuse or dependence not in full sustained remission (i.e., not active for at least one year).
* Active suicidal ideation with intent; suicide attempt within the last six months; more than three suicide attempts within the last two years.
* Pregnancy or plan to become pregnant during the study period.
* General contraindications for DBS surgery (cardiac pacemaker/defibrillator or other implanted devices).
* Inability or unwillingness to comply with long-term follow-up.
* History of intolerance to neural stimulation of any area of the body.
* Participation in another drug, device or biologics trial within the preceding 30 days.
* Conditions requiring repeated MRI scans.
* Conditions requiring diathermy.
* Conditions requiring anticoagulant medication.
* Terminal illness associated with expected survival of \<12 months.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 Score
timeFrame: Baseline, Week 24 post-intervention
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Atlanta
country: United States
facility: Emory University School of Medicine
state: Georgia
Study officials:
affiliation: Emory University
name: Patricio Riva Posse, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Mayberg HS, Lozano AM, Voon V, McNeely HE, Seminowicz D, Hamani C, Schwalb JM, Kennedy SH. Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. Neuron. 2005 Mar 3;45(5):651-60. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2005.02.014.
citation: Riva-Posse P, Crowell AL, Wright K, Waters AC, Choi K, Garlow SJ, Holtzheimer PE, Gross RE, Mayberg HS. Rapid Antidepressant Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation and Their Relation to Surgical Protocol. Biol Psychiatry. 2020 Oct 15;88(8):e37-e39. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.03.017. Epub 2020 May 14. No abstract available.
citation: Crowell AL, Riva-Posse P, Holtzheimer PE, Garlow SJ, Kelley ME, Gross RE, Denison L, Quinn S, Mayberg HS. Long-Term Outcomes of Subcallosal Cingulate Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2019 Nov 1;176(11):949-956. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.18121427. Epub 2019 Oct 4.
citation: Riva-Posse P, Choi KS, Holtzheimer PE, Crowell AL, Garlow SJ, Rajendra JK, McIntyre CC, Gross RE, Mayberg HS. A connectomic approach for subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation surgery: prospective targeting in treatment-resistant depression. Mol Psychiatry. 2018 Apr;23(4):843-849. doi: 10.1038/mp.2017.59. Epub 2017 Apr 11.
citation: Holtzheimer PE, Kelley ME, Gross RE, Filkowski MM, Garlow SJ, Barrocas A, Wint D, Craighead MC, Kozarsky J, Chismar R, Moreines JL, Mewes K, Posse PR, Gutman DA, Mayberg HS. Subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant unipolar and bipolar depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2012 Feb;69(2):150-8. doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.1456. Epub 2012 Jan 2.
citation: Riva-Posse P, Choi KS, Holtzheimer PE, McIntyre CC, Gross RE, Chaturvedi A, Crowell AL, Garlow SJ, Rajendra JK, Mayberg HS. Defining critical white matter pathways mediating successful subcallosal cingulate deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. Biol Psychiatry. 2014 Dec 15;76(12):963-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.03.029. Epub 2014 Apr 13.
citation: Filkowski MM, Mayberg HS, Holtzheimer PE. Considering Eligibility for Studies of Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Insights From a Clinical Trial in Unipolar and Bipolar Depression. J ECT. 2016 Jun;32(2):122-6. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000281.
citation: Riva-Posse P, Holtzheimer PE, Garlow SJ, Mayberg HS. Practical considerations in the development and refinement of subcallosal cingulate white matter deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. World Neurosurg. 2013 Sep-Oct;80(3-4):S27.e25-34. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2012.11.074. Epub 2012 Dec 13.
citation: Fisher CE, Dunn LB, Christopher PP, Holtzheimer PE, Leykin Y, Mayberg HS, Lisanby SH, Appelbaum PS. The ethics of research on deep brain stimulation for depression: decisional capacity and therapeutic misconception. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2012 Aug;1265:69-79. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2012.06596.x. Epub 2012 Jul 19.
citation: Christopher PP, Leykin Y, Appelbaum PS, Holtzheimer PE 3rd, Mayberg HS, Dunn LB. Enrolling in deep brain stimulation research for depression: influences on potential subjects' decision making. Depress Anxiety. 2012 Feb;29(2):139-46. doi: 10.1002/da.20916. Epub 2011 Nov 17.
citation: Holtzheimer PE 3rd, Mayberg HS. Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2010 Dec;167(12):1437-44. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10010141. No abstract available.