[Infusion therapy with antidepressants in patients with depression]

After a review on the evidence for efficacy of infusions with antidepressants a study is presented which included 100 depressed patients (77 females, 23 males) treated with infusions at a private clinic in Basel. In almost all cases "Ludiomil" and "Anafranil" were administered. Women in the forth decade were the most important age group in the females. Immediately after discharge from the hospital 72.5% of the patients assessed their condition as healthy or markedly improved, 23% as slightly improved, 39% remained well for over 1 year, 14.5% for 7 to 12 months. 26% had previously attempted suicide at least once. Intravenous infusion-therapy with antidepressants has advantages over oral administration of the same substances that are however not solely founded on pharmacologic but also on psychologic reasons.