Clinical trial NCT03641300: Efficacy of Convulsive Therapies for Bipolar Depression
Official title: Cognitive Outcomes and Response/Remission Efficacy of Convulsive Therapies for Bipolar Depression: the CORRECT-BD Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Depression
Bipolar I Disorder
Bipolar II Disorder
Keywords: Magnetic Seizure Therapy
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Bipolar Disorder
Depression
Suicidal Ideation
Lead sponsor: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: University of British Columbia
name: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
name: Brain Canada
First posted: 2018-08-22
Enrollment: 76
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The study is a randomized, double blind, parallel-group clinical trial with two treatment arms conducted at three academic institutions: the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention based at CAMH in Toronto, ON; the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, Ontario; and UBC Hospital based at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. CAMH aims to recruit 40 participants. Parkwood Institute and UBC Hospital aim to recruit 30 participants each.
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This trial aims to assess the efficacy and tolerability of Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) as an alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for Bipolar Disorder (BD). Research indicates that the prevalence of treatment resistance in bipolar depression is twice that of unipolar depression. The limited effectiveness of current treatments for bipolar depression coupled with the medical and economic burden associated with the disorder engenders a need for novel therapeutic interventions that can provide greater response and remission rates.

Detailed description: The study will involve a randomized, double blind, non-inferiority clinical trial with two treatment arms conducted in three academic institutions (the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ontario; the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby, Ontario; and University of British Columbia (UBC) Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia). The investigators are pursuing a non-inferiority clinical trial in an effort to compare MST to right unilateral ultrabrief pulse ECT (RUL-UB-ECT). Treatment will be administered two to three days per week. Depression symptoms will be assessed with the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HRSD-24) and suicidality will be assessed with the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI). Remission will be defined as HRSD-24 \< or = 10 and a \> 60% decrease in scores from baseline on two consecutive ratings. Once a participant reaches remission, a second rating to confirm remission will be conducted immediately before their next scheduled treatment. If remission is confirmed, they will then be considered a completer of the acute treatment course. Remission of suicidal ideation is defined as a score of 0 on the SSI. Therefore, there will be no specific minimum number of treatments that patients must receive to be classified as remitters. However, patients who do not meet remission criteria after 21 treatment sessions will be considered non-remitters and will cease treatment sessions. This maximum treatment number was chosen allowing for the possibility that MST may require more treatment sessions to achieve remission, similar to RUL-UB ECT. The blind will not be broken to participants until the completion of the entire study.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Patients will be included if they:

1. are inpatients or outpatients;
2. are voluntary and competent to consent to treatment and research procedures according to ECT/MST attending psychiatrist;
3. have a MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview diagnosis, Version 6 (MINI-6.0) diagnosis of non-psychotic Bipolar Disorder (Type I or II)
4. are 18 years of age or older
5. have a baseline HRSD-24 score \> 21;
6. are considered to be appropriate to receive convulsive therapy as assessed by an ECT attending psychiatrist and a consultant anaesthesiologist
7. are agreeable to keeping their current antidepressant treatment constant during the intervention;
8. are likely able to adhere to the intervention schedule;
9. meet the MST safety criteria;
10. If a woman of child-bearing potential: is willing to provide a negative pregnancy test and agrees not to become pregnant during trial participation.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients will be excluded if they:

1. have a history of MINI diagnosis of substance dependence or abuse within the past three months;
2. have a concomitant major unstable medical illness;
3. are pregnant or intend to get pregnant during the study;
4. have a MINI diagnosis of any primary psychotic disorder
5. have a MINI diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder deemed to be primary and causing more functional impairment than the depressive disorder
6. have probable dementia based on study investigator assessment;
7. have any significant neurological disorder or condition likely to be associated with increased intracranial pressure or a space occupying brain lesion, e.g., cerebral aneurysm;
8. present with a medical condition, a medication, or a laboratory abnormality that could cause a major depressive episode or significant cognitive impairment in the opinion of the investigator (e.g., hypothyroidism with low TSH, rheumatoid arthritis requiring high dose prednisone, or Cushing's disease);
9. have an intracranial implant (e.g., aneurysm clips, shunts, stimulators, cochlear implants, or electrodes) or any other metal object within or near the head, excluding the mouth, that cannot be safely removed;
10. require a benzodiazepine with a dose greater than lorazepam 2 mg/day (or equivalent benzodiazepine) or any anticonvulsant due to the potential of these medications to limit the efficacy of both MST and ECT;
11. are unable to communicate in English fluently enough to complete the neuropsychological tests;
12. have a non-correctable clinically significant sensory impairment (i.e., cannot hear or see well enough to complete the neuropsychological tests).

    These eligibility criteria are congruent with the criteria that have been used in the major ECT trials conducted during the past decade;
13. elevated mood, defined as a score of 20 or higher on the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS).

Primary outcomes:
measure: Remission (score </= 10) on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression - 24 (HRSD-24)
timeFrame: Greater than 8 treatments (2.5 weeks)
measure: Cognitive adverse effects as indexed by the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT)
timeFrame: Greater than 8 treatments (2.5 weeks)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Improvement in symptom severity of Suicidal Ideation as measured by the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI)
timeFrame: 7 weeks
measure: Number of self-reported and clinical-reported adverse events
timeFrame: Up to 7 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Vancouver
country: Canada
facility: UBC Hospital, University of British Columbia (UBC)
state: British Columbia
city: Toronto
country: Canada
facility: Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
state: Ontario
city: Whitby
country: Canada
facility: Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
state: Ontario
Study officials:
affiliation: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
name: Daniel Blumberger, MD, MSc
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Jiang J, Zhang C, Li C, Chen Z, Cao X, Wang H, Li W, Wang J. Magnetic seizure therapy for treatment-resistant depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Jun 16;6(6):CD013528. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013528.pub2.