Abstract
Fluvoxamine is a serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor. We treated two patients suffering from poststroke depression (PSD) with fluvoxamine and evaluated its effect using several different depression scales, i.e, Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), Zung's Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), Hamilton's Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Post-stroke Psychiatric Symptoms Rating Scale (PPSRS), Japan Stroke Scale-Depression Scale (JSS-D), and Japan Stroke Scale-Emotional Disturbance Scale (JSS-E) . At 8 weeks after the start of fluvoxamine, the scores on the SDS, HDRS, PPSRS, JSS-D, and JSS-E were improved, Mild cognitive impairment was also improved by fluvoxamine in one patient. The present results indicated that the JSS-D and JSS-E were useful for the evaluation of PSD as well as the other depression scales. Furthermore, an effect of fluvoxamine on PSD was suggested.
