La major depression affects approximately 350 million people worldwide. In about a third of cases, the usual treatments are not effective, a situation known as treatment-resistant depression.
In these patients, the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective therapeutic option; however, it can cause adverse effects with cognitive alterations, and requires general anesthesiaLikewise, a percentage of these patients will require prolonged or indefinite maintenance TEC for the control of his depressive disorder.
In recent years, the ketamine has emerged as a alternative for resistant depression: it acts quickly, has demonstrated antidepressant efficacy, can be administered on an outpatient basis and has a very tolerable side effect profile. Despite these advantages, it has not yet been studied whether patients can safely replace maintenance ECT with maintenance ketamine without losing therapeutic efficacy.
With this challenge as a starting point, a team of researchers from the E-Mental Health and Epidemiology group of the Parc Taulí Research and Innovation Institute (I3PT), made up of several mental health specialists, has initiated a clinical trial with 70 patients with resistant depression who are currently receiving maintenance ECT. The main objective of the study is to determine whether switching to ketamine less affected autobiographical memory without compromising antidepressant efficacy.
The study will last six months. During this period, half of the participants will continue with the usual ECT treatment, while the other half will receive maintenance treatment with ketamine. In parallel, other relevant variables will be evaluated, such as clinical improvement, the life quality, the treatment safety and the possible adverse effects.
The results of this study could significantly contribute to optimizing maintenance treatment for resistant depression and have a direct impact on clinical practice in mental health.
The project is led by Verònica Gálvez —principal investigator— and Diego Palao —co-principal investigator— and has the participation of Virginia Soria, Erika Martínez, Àlex Ferrer and Raquel Rodríguez, and a research team from the Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol and the Hospital de Mataró. In addition, it has been selected within the Call for Independent Clinical Research Projects 2025 from the Carlos III Health Institute, becoming the first I3PT research project to obtain this funding, with an amount of €432.696.
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