Prevention and Treatment of Poststroke Depression With Mirtazapine in Patients With Acute Stroke

Background and objective: Poststroke depression is one of the most frequent complications of stroke, affecting approximately 20% to 40% of all patients. In spite of the importance of this neuropsychiatric disorder, little attention has been given to the prevention of poststroke depression. The purpose of this study was to examine whether prophylactic treatment with the antidepressant mirtazapine in patients with acute stroke given from day 1 after the incidence prevents poststroke depression.

Method: Patients with ischemic stroke received either 30 mg mirtazapine or no antidepressant medication from day 1 after the stroke in an open, randomized study design. Data were collected from August 2001 to December 2002. Seventy patients were enrolled in the study and were reexamined on days 7, 44, 90, 180, 270, and 360 using neurologic, functional, and depression rating scales. Those poststroke patients who developed depression (DSM-IV criteria) but had been randomly assigned to the nontreatment group were given the antidepressant mirtazapine after the diagnosis of depression had been established.

Results: Forty percent (14/35) of the nontreated patients and only 5.7% (2/35) of the patients who were treated with mirtazapine developed poststroke depression. Altogether, 16 patients developed poststroke depression, 15 of whom remitted after initiation of treatment with mirtazapine.

Conclusion: Mirtazapine significantly reduced the rate of poststroke depression in patients with acute stroke. The study also demonstrated that this antidepressant was highly effective in treating poststroke depression.