Clinical Predictors of Intravenous Ketamine Response in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2024-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
For patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), a single low dose of intravenous (IV)
ketamine can help relieve symptoms as quickly as 24 hours later.
The main problem with IV ketamine for TRD is that the effect is short-lived, lasting only
days to 1 or 2 weeks. Furthermore, IV ketamine is a resource-intensive treatment, and the
safety of long-term, repeated use for depression is unknown. To provide this treatment in a
safe and cost-effective way, we must allocate it efficiently to those patients who have the
greatest need and probability of benefit. Therefore, our project aims to find clinical
features (signs, symptoms, and parts of a patient's history) that will help predict which
patients are most likely to respond to a single dose of IV ketamine for TRD. This will help
guide patient selection and triaging.
We will recruit 40 patients with TRD over one year, and randomize them to one of two
conditions (ketamine followed by an active placebo 3-weeks later, or vice versa). With
clinical data collected through detailed interviews and questionnaires, this study design
will let us evaluate how well such factors predict (A) rapid response at 24-hours, and (B)
sustained response at 7 and 14 days.