Stroke Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Stroke, including details on treatment, recovery, rehabilitation, signs, symptoms.

Efficacy of milnacipran on cognitive dysfunction with post-stroke depression: preliminary open-label study.

Sato S, Yamakawa Y, Terashima Y, Ohta H, Asada T

Department of Psychiatry, Tsukuba Memorial Hospital, Tsukuba, Japan. ssato@bg8.so-net.ne.jp

The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of the serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), milnacipran, on both cognitive impairment and depression in post-stroke depression (PSD) patients. A total of 18 PSD patients, approximately 3 months after stroke, were divided into two groups, milnacipran and control. A total of 10 patients were assigned to the milnaciprane group and eight were assigned to control group. Their cognitive impairment and mood symptoms were measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) both at the time of admission and at discharge, an interval of approximately 3 months. This study examined the changes in both MMSE and HAM-D scores during the study period. A significant time-by-group interaction for results of the MMSE was observed, although there was no significant difference between the two groups on the HAM-D. Amelioration of cognitive impairment was greater in the milnacipran group than the control group. For PSD patients, milnacipran is effective in improving cognitive dysfunction.

Published 8 September 2006 in Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 60(5): 584-9.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Stroke Research Today. All Rights Reserved.