Vagal nerve stimulation for treatment resistant depression: A report of two cases with a very long-term follow-up

Abstract

We present the case of two patients with a diagnosis of treatment-resistant major drug depression (TR-MDD) treated with Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS) surgery in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Before surgery the symptoms of sadness, frustration, guilty feelings and loss of interest in socialization severely interfere with everyday life and were worsened by epilepsy in one of the two cases. After surgery both patients experienced great improvement in MDD symptoms and in quality of life that persisted in the last 15 and 16 years. We report these cases since the literature lacks of long-term follow-up for VNS treatment in TR-MDD patients.

Keywords

• VNS
• Treatment resistant depression
• Long-term
• Invasive treatment