New Rochelle, NY, August 1, 2018–A new study has shown a significant average decrease in the Children’s Depression Rating Scale (42.5%) among adolescents with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) who were treated with intravenous ketamine. The study, which demonstrated the tolerability and potential role of ketamine as a treatment option for adolescents with TRD, is published in Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology website.

The article entitled “Intravenous Ketamine for Adolescents with Treatment-Resistant Depression: An Open-Label Study” was coauthored by Kathryn Cullen, MD, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, and a team of researchers from University of Minnesota, Hennepin County Medical Center (Minneapolis, MN), and Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN).

The study participants were young adults aged 12-18 years who had failed two previous trials of antidepressants. They received six ketamine infusions over 2 weeks. The treatment was well tolerated. Based on the Children’s Depression Rating Scale scores, 38% of participants met the criteria for clinical response and remission.

“The field is excited about a potential new agent for adolescents with treatment resistant depression. We look forward to additional studies of ketamine to validate this treatment,” says Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, Editor in Chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology and President of the Child Mind Institute in New York.

About the Journal

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online. The Journal is dedicated to child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral pediatrics, covering clinical and biological aspects of child and adolescent psychopharmacology and developmental neurobiology. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Games for Health Journal, and Violence and Gender. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.