Related Experiment Videos
Sertraline in stroke-associated lability of mood
A Burns1, E Russell, H Stratton-Powell
1Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Withington Hospital, Manchester, UK. A_Burns@fs1.with.man.ac.uk
Objective:
To assess whether a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor is effective in the treatment of stroke-associated lability of mood.
Methods:
Twenty-eight non-depressed patients suffering from post-stroke lability of mood took part in an 8-week double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (50 mg sertraline per day).
Results:
There were statistically significant improvements in a global rating of emotionalism and a specific benefit on tearfulness. The results are discussed in the light of proposed serontonergic mechanisms for emotional lability following stroke.
Conclusions:
50 mg of sertraline per day may be an effective and well-tolerated treatment for stroke-associated lability of mood in the absence of depression. This is supportive evidence for the serontonergic hypothesis of lability of mood following stroke.