NEW ORLEANS -- Individuals with poststroke depression may respond best in the short term to a combination of a brief psychosocial and behavioral intervention and an antidepressant, Pamela H. Mitchell, Ph.D., reported at the International Stroke Conference 2008.
Patients with two alleles of a common polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (SERT) appeared to benefit most from the combination treatment, Dr. Mitchell said at the conference, which was sponsored by the American Stroke Association.
Recent meta-analyses of pooled data from clinical studies of poststroke depression have estimated that 33% of patients may be clinically depressed after having a stroke. ...