REPETITIVE TRANSCRANIAL MAGNETIC STIMULATION (RTMS) FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER MORE EFFECTIVE THAN RTMS COMBINED WITH ESKETAMINE

appropriate; however, no research has examined the left prefrontal piTBS's antidepressant potential in LLD-TRD.Methods: LLD-TRD patients aged60 who failed to respond to at least one adequate antidepressant treatment and were administered 10 sessions of piTBS (1800 pulses/session, 80% aMT, totaling 10-20 sessions) or 10Hz-rTMS (3000 pulses/session, 100-120% rMT, totaling 15-30 sessions) stimulating the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were identified through a chart review between 2018 and 2022 at a single medical center in Taiwan.Primary outcome was remission [Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HDRS-17)7] and secondary outcomes were response rate and HDRS-17 changes.Results: We identified 45 LLD-TRD patients (meanSD, age 66.3 4.8; 71.1% female; piTBS, n=30, averaged sessions=11.53.0;10Hz-rTMS, n=15, averaged sessions= 17.14.1).There was no significant difference in the remission, response rate, or HDRS-17 changes before-and-after intervention between 10Hz-rTMS (13.3%,26.7%,41.5%,respectively) and piTBS group (23.3%,26.7%,35.2%,respectively).Conclusions: This study demonstrated that although only taking near half the time, piTBS protocol had equivalent antidepressant benefits in patients with LLD-TRD as traditional 10Hz-rTMS.Larger randomized sham-control studies with a longer follow-up time was required to optimize its efficacy.