Increase of frontal cerebral blood volume during transcranial magnetic stimulation in depression is related to treatment effectiveness: A pilot study with near‐infrared spectroscopy

Aim

Alterations of cerebral blood flow have been reported in studies of depression treated by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). However, the relation between these changes in activity during stimulation and the effectiveness of TMS is not known. The aim of this study was to determine whether changes in frontal cerebral blood volume measured as frontal hemoglobin concentration (fHbC) during TMS are correlated with clinical outcomes of treatment.

Methods

Fifteen drug‐resistant patients with depression underwent a standard treatment regimen of TMS to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. We recorded fHbC during stimulation at the start and end of the TMS treatment series using near‐infrared spectroscopy. Symptom severity was determined using the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale.

Results

At the start of the TMS series, fHbC increased during stimulation in a majority of patients with no relation to symptom severity. However, at the end of the series, fHbC increase during stimulation was negatively correlated with the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale score and positively with the score reduction. Patients showing a decreasing response of fHbC during TMS at the end of the series experienced less clinical improvement.

Conclusion

These results suggest that the maintenance of frontal activation during stimulation in the course of TMS series is related to the effectiveness in the treatment of depression. Measurement of fHbC during stimulation is informative in the clinical use of TMS.