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Practice Guideline
. 2018 Jan/Feb;79(1):16cs10905.
doi: 10.4088/JCP.16cs10905.

Consensus Recommendations for the Clinical Application of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in the Treatment of Depression

Shawn M McClintock  1   2   3 , Irving M Reti  4 , Linda L Carpenter  5 , William M McDonald  6 , Marc Dubin  7 , Stephan F Taylor  8 , Ian A Cook  9 , John O'Reardon  10 , Mustafa M Husain  2   3 , Christopher Wall  11 , Andrew D Krystal  3   12 , Shirlene M Sampson  13 , Oscar Morales  14 , Brent G Nelson  15 , Vassilios Latoussakis  7 , Mark S George  16   17 , Sarah H Lisanby  3 ; National Network of Depression Centers rTMS Task Group; American Psychiatric Association Council on Research Task Force on Novel Biomarkers and Treatments
Affiliations
Practice Guideline

Consensus Recommendations for the Clinical Application of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in the Treatment of Depression

Shawn M McClintock et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018 Jan/Feb.

Abstract

Objective: To provide expert recommendations for the safe and effective application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).

Participants: Participants included a group of 17 expert clinicians and researchers with expertise in the clinical application of rTMS, representing both the National Network of Depression Centers (NNDC) rTMS Task Group and the American Psychiatric Association Council on Research (APA CoR) Task Force on Novel Biomarkers and Treatments.

Evidence: The consensus statement is based on a review of extensive literature from 2 databases (OvidSP MEDLINE and PsycINFO) searched from 1990 through 2016. The search terms included variants of major depressive disorder and transcranial magnetic stimulation. The results were limited to articles written in English that focused on adult populations. Of the approximately 1,500 retrieved studies, a total of 118 publications were included in the consensus statement and were supplemented with expert opinion to achieve consensus recommendations on key issues surrounding the administration of rTMS for MDD in clinical practice settings.

Consensus process: In cases in which the research evidence was equivocal or unclear, a consensus decision on how rTMS should be administered was reached by the authors of this article and is denoted in the article as "expert opinion."

Conclusions: Multiple randomized controlled trials and published literature have supported the safety and efficacy of rTMS antidepressant therapy. These consensus recommendations, developed by the NNDC rTMS Task Group and APA CoR Task Force on Novel Biomarkers and Treatments, provide comprehensive information for the safe and effective clinical application of rTMS in the treatment of MDD.

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Comment in

  • Consensus Recommendations for rTMS in Depression: Not Entirely Correct!
    Tendler A, Gersner R. Tendler A, et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018 Jan/Feb;79(1):17lr11851. doi: 10.4088/JCP.17lr11851. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018. PMID: 29505181 No abstract available.
  • Dr McClintock and Colleagues Reply.
    McClintock SM, Reti IM, Carpenter LL, McDonald WM, Dubin M, Taylor SF, Cook IA, O'Reardon J, Husain MM, Wall C, Krystal A, Sampson S, Morales O, Nelson BG, George MS, Lisanby SH. McClintock SM, et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018 Jan/Feb;79(1):17lr11851a. doi: 10.4088/JCP.17lr11851a. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018. PMID: 29505182 No abstract available.
  • Roles and Qualifications of TMS Treatment Team Members.
    Feifel D, Dunner DL, Press DZ; Board of Directors and Clinical Standards Committee of the Clinical TMS Society. Feifel D, et al. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018 Jan/Feb;79(1):17lr11887. doi: 10.4088/JCP.17lr11887. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018. PMID: 29505183 No abstract available.

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