Inpharma 1314 - 17 Nov 2001

■ Fluvoxamine shows promise in the treatment ofpatients with postnatal depression, report researchersfrom the US. In this open-label study, 6 such womenexperiencing an episode of major depression thatbegan within 8 weeks of their labour receivedfluvoxamine 50 mg/day which was titrated to amaximum tolerated dosage of 150 mg/day over 2weeks.* The researchers comment that there was asignificant decline in Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HAM-D) scores over time. Remission was achievedby four patients (HAM-D scores of 2–5), with a meantime to response of 6 weeks. Treatment responsecould not be predicted by past history of depressionor prior response to treatment, according to theresearchers.* The patients had scores of ≥ 17 on the 21-item HamiltonDepression Rating Scale and 12 on the Edinburgh PostnatalDepression Scale.

Suri R, et al. Fluvoxamine for postpartum depression. American Journal ofPsychiatry 158: 1739-1740, Oct 2001 800884350

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Inpharma 17 Nov 2001 No. 13141173-8324/10/1314-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved