Contact: Will Sansom, (210) 567-2579

This illustration shows the pacemaker-like device that sends mild pulses to the brain via the vagus nerve. Image courtesy of Cyberonics Inc.
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SAN ANTONIO (Aug. 22, 2008) — Major depression is a leading cause of suicide, and many people who suffer from this chronic condition do not respond well to conventional treatments. And when patients experience several types of treatment that do not work, they are more prone to harm themselves, according to Peter M. Thompson M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

That is why Dr. Thompson is leading a team of researchers from the Department of Psychiatry studying three treatment settings of Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Therapy™. The researchers hope to learn which of three treatment settings gives patients the most relief from their depression and is best tolerated. Patients must be 18 or older.

VNS Therapy represents new hope for the subset of patients who have treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved VNS Therapy in 2005 as an adjunctive long-term treatment for chronic or recurrent depression in patients age 18 or older who experience major episodes of depression and have not experienced adequate relief from four or more types of antidepressant treatments. It is the only device ever studied and approved for TRD.

“People with depression are 35 times more likely to commit suicide,” Dr. Thompson said. “Chronic depression can lead to the same sense of hopelessness that chronic pain or cancer does. That is why this study is important.”

VNS Therapy is delivered from a small pacemaker-like device implanted in the chest that sends mild pulses to the brain via the vagus nerve in the neck. The pulse rate can be adjusted.

The implant procedure lasts one to two hours and is performed by Daniel D. Tamez Jr., M.D., in the Baptist Health System of San Antonio. Several patients are already enrolled in the research study, and Dr. Thompson is continuing to enroll subjects at the UT Health Science Center.

To ask about eligibility, call Anna Hernandez, R.N., research study coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry, at (210) 567-0780. The four-year study is sponsored by Cyberonics Inc.

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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $576 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 23,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.