[Full functional recovery in depression treatment. Clinical cases treated with vortioxetina]

Depression is one of the most common diseases worldwide, with more than 350 million people affected. Although many patients initially show a good response to antidepressant therapy, they tend to suffer from residual symptoms that affect their social, cognitive, physical and psychological domains. Residual symptoms severely impact the patient's global functioning and quality of life and increase the risk of recurrence. In the last few years, pharmacological research has focused on drugs able to mitigate the severity of depressive symptoms and to control persistent cognitive and functional disabilities. A novel antidepressant, with a multimodal mechanism of action that combines the classical inhibition of serotonin transporter (SERT) with the modulation of serotonin receptor activity, is vortioxetine. Its efficacy in the treatment of depression and cognitive symptoms has been well established in numerous randomized clinical trials. Three cases of patients with depressive disorders are presented, in which vortioxetine treatment improved depressive symptoms, cognitive symptoms and overall patient functioning. These anecdotal experiences suggest that vortioxetine, in addition to controlling all symptoms of depression, including cognitive symptoms, provides functional benefits in patients with depressive disorders.