The Treatment of Depressive Conditions with Imipramine (G 22355)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
1. Imipramine (G22355) is a new chemical agent with a primarily inhibitory action on the central nervous system. It has definite anti-depressive properties in the psychiatric sense, producing a gradual lessening and frequently a disappearance of the symptoms and signs of depressive states. 2. Of 84 patients with various psychiatric diagnoses who had in common the presence of symptoms of dysphoric depression, 30 per cent recovered or were much improved after two weeks, and 60 per cent recovered or were much improved after eight weeks of therapy with Imipramine (G 22355); a further percentage showed lesser degrees of improvement. These findings correspond fairly well to the results reported by Kuhn in 300 patients, viz. improvement in three-quarters to four-fifths of his cases. 3. The results in depressed patients with neuroses, schizophrenia, and organic conditions were less favourable than in patients with endogenous depressions. 4. The frequency of side effects was low, but increased when the dose was over 200 mgms. daily, especially in patients over the age of 65. Side effects were expressed mainly in disturbed functioning of the autonomic nervous system, although there were also a few cases of toxic confusion, two cases with epileptiform seizures, and one case of mild transient jaundice. There was one death in our series, probably due to acute coronary occlusion and apparently not related to the drug. 5. A rating scale for the rapid and effective assessment of depressive symptoms is described, and the results of a ‘double-blind’ experiment are discussed. 6. The concepts of physiological and psychiatric depression are discussed and several clinical categories are differentiated in order to clarify the use of the term. 7. It is concluded that Imipramine (G 22355) is a relatively non-toxic drug useful in the treatment of depressions, especially of the endogenous type.

This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit: