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Quetiapine Monotherapy Effective for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Presented at APA

SAN FRANCISCO -- May 26, 2009 -- Quetiapine monotherapy is efficacious in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled study presented here at the 162nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

Mark Hamner, MD, Veteran's Administration Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina, and colleagues examined the efficacy of quetiapine therapy in patients with chronic PTSD. "We wanted to see what the signal was for monotherapy," he explained on May 20.

Patients were started on a 1-week placebo phase, and then subsequently randomised to a 12-week regimen of either placebo or daily quetiapine monotherapy. The average dose of quetiapine was 258 mg (range: 50-800 mg per day). Although 88 patients were initially enrolled, 77 patients were available for assessment.

For evaluating the primary endpoint, patients were assessed using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). Secondary outcomes included the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS); the Clinical Global Impressions - Severity of Illness Scale (CGI-S); the CGI-Improvement Scale (CGI-I); the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD); and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HRSA).

Upon evaluation, the researchers observed a significant reduction in CAPS composite scores when compared with placebo treatment. Patients receiving quetiapine were observed to have a 3-fold decrease in CAPS scores (P = .007).

With respect to the secondary endpoints, patients on quetiapine monotherapy showed statistically significant improvement in the PANSS (P = .0135), the CGI-S (P = .003), the CGI-I (P = .030), the HRSD (P = .009), and the HRSA (P = .020) outcomes when compared with patients receiving placebo.

Since this was an initial study, the researchers suggest that larger trials are needed to better assess a potential role for quetiapine monotherapy for these patients who may need alternative options to traditional antipsychotic therapy.

Funding for this study was provided by AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP.

[Presentation title: Quetiapine Monotherapy in Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial. NR4-008]

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