High-Frequency vs. Theta-Burst TMS for Depression

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial was to learn if two different types of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) could help treat depression and anxiety in adults with major depressive disorder.

The main questions it aimed to answer were:

Did high-frequency rTMS and intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) both reduce depressive symptoms? Did one treatment lead to greater improvement in anxiety symptoms?

Researchers compared people receiving high-frequency rTMS to those receiving iTBS to see if one worked better for mood and anxiety symptoms.

Participants:

Were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups. Received 10 stimulation sessions over two weeks (five sessions per week). Completed questionnaires and interviews on depression, anxiety, and stress before treatment, after two weeks, and again six weeks later.

Conditions

• Major Depression

Interventions

DEVICE

High-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

High-frequency rTMS was delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using the 5 cm rule to localize the target site. Stimulation intensity was set at 100% of the resting motor threshold, determined by visible motor-evoked potentials in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscle. Each session consisted of 1500 pulses at 10 Hz, organized into 10 trains of 15 seconds (150 pulses per train) with 50-second inter-train intervals. Total stimulation time per session was approximately 12.5 minutes. A figure-of-eight coil (70BFX-LQC, Deymed Diagnostics) connected to a DuoMagXT-100 stimulator was used, with the coil positioned at \~45° from the midline, handle pointing posterolaterally.

DEVICE

Intermittent Theta Burst Stimulation

Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) was delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex using the 5 cm rule for target localization. Stimulation intensity was set at 100% of the resting motor threshold, determined by motor-evoked potentials in the right abductor pollicis brevis muscle. Each session consisted of 600 pulses delivered in bursts of three 50 Hz pulses repeated every 200 ms. Trains of 2 seconds were followed by 8-second inter-train intervals. Total stimulation time per session was approximately 3 minutes and 20 seconds. A figure-of-eight coil (70HF-LQC, Deymed Diagnostics) connected to a DuoMagXT-100 stimulator was used, with coil orientation \~45° from the midline, handle pointing posterolaterally.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Krajská zdravotní, a.s. - Nemocnice Most, o.z.

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jakub Albrecht, MD, Ph.D. · Department of Psychiatry, Most Hospital, Krajská zdravotní a.s., Most, Czech Republic

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

90 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-05-01

Primary Completion

2024-12-31

Completion

2025-04-30

Countries

• Czechia

Study Locations