Fluvoxamine in the treatment of tricyclic-resistant depression

Following an initial double-blind, randomized, parallel treatment group comparison of fluvoxamine, desipramine, and placebo in 89 outpatients with major depression at two centers, double-blind crossover to fluvoxamine was offered to 13 of 22 desipramine-treated completers of the initial phase who were considered failures on desipramine. Twelve elected to cross over to blinded fluvoxamine, and eleven continued on fluvoxamine for at least eight weeks. Nine of these eleven improved, and overall there was a statistically significant decrease in average Hamilton Depression Scores, from 24 to 13, for these fluvoxamine-treated desipramine-resistant patients.