Abstract
Reboxetine added to SSRI in depression resistant to SSRI alone. The aim of these open study was to compare the efficacy of continuation treatment with selective serotonine reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) alone and combination therapy i.e. SSRI + reboxetine (RBX) in a group of patients with major depression who did not respond to 4 weeks treatment with SSRI. Depressed patients (n = 28) who did not respond after 4 weeks of therapy with SSRI were enrolled either to a group of patients who remained on the same SSRI (n = 15) or the group (n = 13) were RBX (4-8 mg b.i.d) was administered to ongoing treatment with SSRI for two weeks. At least 50% reduction of HDRS score, when compared to the onset of treatment, was observed in 8 (61%) patients treated with SSRI + RBX and 4 patients (26%) from SSRI group. Mean HDRS score in SSRI+RBX group (9,5 SD ± 5.6) was significantly lower (p = 0,01) when compared to SSRI group (16,1; SD ± 6.7). Combination of SSRI and RBX did not cause any significant side effects. Conclusions: Addition of RBX to SSRI seems to effective in patients who did not respond to 4-weeks treatment with SSRI alone.