Abstract:

Objective  To investigate the effect of different frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with post stroke depression(PSD). Methods  Seventythree PSD patients who met  the third edition of the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorders(CCMDⅢ)，were examined by Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) at enrollment and four weeks after treatment，and examined by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1HMRS) four weeks after treatment.The patients were divided into high frequency group(24 cases)，low frequency group(24cases) and sham stimulation group(25 cases)，the former two groups respectively got rTMS high or low frequency treatment. But sham stimulation group was giren the sounds of same frequency as high frequency groups，but no magnetic stimulation. Results  ① After treatment， HAMD score reduced in high frequency group (13.5±1.6) scores and low frequency group (13.1±1.7) scores， there was no significant difference between two groups.The difference was statistically significant between the two groups and the sham stimulation group (16.3±1.4) scores (P<0.01).The HAMD score of sham group was not significantly improved. ② After treatment， there were no significant difference in Cho/Cr ratio between the three groups of patients with frontal lobe， hippocampus japonicas and thalamus (P>0.05). Conclusion  Both high frequency of  rTMS  and low frequency can improve the status of depression in patients with PSD.There were no significant differences between  two groups.

Key words: cerebrovascular accident, depression, magnetotherapy