Resources and Research

Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT): A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Eleanor J Cole 1Angela L Phillips 1Brandon S Bentzley 1Katy H Stimpson 1Romina Nejad 1Fahim Barmak 1Clive Veerapal 1Naushaba Khan 1Kirsten Cherian 1Emily Felber 1Randi Brown 1Elizabeth Choi 1Sinead King 1Heather Pankow 1James H Bishop 1Azeezat Azeez 1John Coetzee 1Rachel Rapier 1Nicole Odenwald 1David Carreon 1Jessica Hawkins 1Maureen Chang 1Jennifer Keller 1Kristin Raj 1Charles DeBattista 1Booil Jo 1Flint M Espil 1Alan F Schatzberg 1Keith D Sudheimer 1Nolan R Williams 1

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Abstract

Objective: Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, and half of patients with depression have treatment-resistant depression. Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression but is limited by suboptimal efficacy and a 6-week duration. The authors addressed these limitations by developing a neuroscience-informed accelerated iTBS protocol, Stanford neuromodulation therapy (SNT; previously referred to as Stanford accelerated intelligent neuromodulation therapy, or SAINT). This protocol was associated with a remission rate of ∼90% after 5 days of open-label treatment. Here, the authors report the results of a sham-controlled double-blind trial of SNT for treatment-resistant depression.