October 2000 Vol. 16, No. 9

UMC to Test Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Treatment of Depression

Of the millions of Americans suffering from clinical depression, experts estimate that more than 20 percent experience no relief through existing pharmaceutical treatments. Those patients are left with an uncertain combination of drug, hormone and electroconvulsive treatments, says Francisco Moreno, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the UA College of Medicine.

Vagus nerve stimulation, an effective epilepsy treatment, has produced encouraging preliminary results for patients suffering from "treatment-resistant depression," and a study beginning at UMC and a handful of other U.S. sites may verify the promising new therapy.

UMC is in the process of selecting 10 study participants from Southern Arizona and the Phoenix area. The patients will be implanted with a NeuroCybernetic Prosthesis (NCP)® System, which consists of a battery-powered generator implanted in the chest and a lead attached, at neck level, to the vagus nerve leading to the brain. The device delivers an automatic, periodic electrical stimulation to the nerve. A physician can adjust the intensity, duration and frequency of the stimulation, which may be minimally noticeable by the patient, in follow-up visits.

Cyberonics Inc.

David Labiner, MD, associate professor of neurol ogy at the UA College of Medicine, was principal investigator of a UMC study of the NCP system's effectiveness in the treatment of epilepsy in 1994-95. The device received approval for general use in epilepsy treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1997.

"During the epilepsy study we noticed many patients felt better emotionally," Dr. Labiner says. "Even the patients who did not have a reduction in the number of seizures said they felt better."

NCP therapy, produced by Cyberonics Inc. of Houston, already has completed an initial study of the depression treatment. The current study could be completed in the next two years at which time the FDA could approve the treatment for general use.

Allan Hamilton, MD, neurosurgeon and head of the UA College of Medicine's Department of Surgery, will lead the surgical team implanting the NCP systems for the study. Potential patients still are being screened for participation in the study. For information, call 626-6509.

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