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Dorsomedial prefrontal cortex repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in eating disorders: An open‐label case series
Author(s) -
Woodside D. Blake,
Colton Patricia,
Lam Eileen,
Dunlop Katharine,
Rzeszutek Julia,
Downar Jonathan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.22764
Subject(s) - transcranial magnetic stimulation , prefrontal cortex , posttraumatic stress , psychology , neuroscience , stimulation , eating disorders , audiology , medicine , clinical psychology , cognition
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common comorbid condition in anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), and may be associated with reduced response to treatment. We report on a case series employing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with a novel target, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC). Fourteen subjects with eating disorders and comorbid PTSD received 20–30 neuronavigated DMPFC–rTMS treatments on an open‐label basis. PTSD symptoms were assessed pretreatment and posttreatment with the PTSD checklist‐Civilian (PCL‐C) and the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS). PCL‐C scores were reduced by 51.99% ± 27.24% overall, from a mean of 54.29 ± 19.34 pretreatment to 24.86 ± 17.43 posttreatment ( p < .001). Of the 14, 8 showed an improvement of >50%. DERS scores improved by 36.02% ± 24.24% overall, from 140.00 ± 22.09 at pretreatment to 89.29 ± 38.31 at posttreatment ( p < .001). OF the 14 subjects, 5 achieved >50% improvement. These data may suggest that DMPFC–rTMS could be helpful in the treatment of PTSD in some ED patients.