Abstract
In coronary artery disease the patients usually manifest both anxiety and depression disturbances.
A controlled clinical study was conducted to test the efficacy of a new antidepressant agent, maprotiline, in the early stages of acute myocardial infarction.
The sample consisted of 126 patients, sixty-three receiving orally 25 mg of maprotiline twice daily and the remainder 5 mg of diazepam twice daily. Treatment lasted on an average two weeks (ten days to eight weeks). The depressive and/or anxiety conditions were rated on the basis of a questionnaire administered before and after treatment.
Depression improved markedly in patients receiving maprotiline, while the two drugs developed a comparable anxiolytic action.
Tolerability was good. No clinical or ECG evidence of cardiotoxic signs was detected.
The importance of a drug with these characteristics in the management of emotional disturbances in the early stages of coronary artery disease is emphasized.
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