clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02152878.

Objective. Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is a novel, experimental therapeutic intervention, which combines therapeutic aspects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation, in order to achieve the efficacy of the former with the safety of the latter. MST might prove to be a valuable tool in the treatment of mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder. Our aim is to review current literature on MST. Methods. OVID and MEDLINE databases were used to systematically search for clinical studies on MST. The terms “magnetic seizure therapy,” “depression,” and “bipolar” were employed. Results. Out of 74 studies, 8 met eligibility criteria. There was considerable variability in the methods employed and samples sizes were small, limiting the generalization of the results. All studies focused on depressive episodes, but few included patients with bipolar disorder. The studies found reported significant antidepressant effects, with remission rates ranging from 30% to 40%. No significant cognitive side effects related to MST were found, with a better cognitive profile when compared to ECT. Conclusion. MST was effective in reducing depressive symptoms in mood disorders, with generally less side effects than ECT. No study focused on comparing MST to ECT on bipolar depression specifically.

scientists had isolated a new type of coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), from these patients. It was hypothesized that the outbreak was associated with a seafood market in Wuhan (1).China promptly adopted public health measures to prevent and control the epidemic, including isolating patients, monitoring their contacts, and developing diagnostic and treatment procedures (2). However, the number of confirmed cases continued to increase, and the disease spread to other countries.The first cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside China were reported in Thailand, Japan, and Korea. Since then, COVID-19 has spread to American and European territories. By the time the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, there were approximately 118,000 cases of COVID-19, with 4,291 deaths in 114 countries (1).In the American continent, the first case was reported in the United States of America on January 21, 2020, followed by Canada, which reported its first case four days later. In South America, the first case was confirmed on February 26, 2020 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. By May 7, 2020, the country had already 135,106 confirmed cases and 9,146 deaths (3). However, these numbers are likely underreported. In addition to the absence of proper screening mechanisms for asymptomatic patients (4), Brazil's health system suffers from a chronic lack of testing for suspected cases and deaths, as is the case in a number of developing countries.

No abstract

Electrical and magnetic brain stimulation techniques present distinct mechanisms and efficacy in the acute treatment of depression. This was an umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of brain stimulation techniques for managing acute major depressive episodes. A systematic review was performed in the PubMed/MEDLINE databases from inception until March 2020. We included the English language meta-analysis with the most randomized controlled trials on the effects of any brain stimulation technique vs. control in adults with an acute depressive episode. Continuous and dichotomous outcomes were assessed. A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews-2 was applied and the credibility of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework. Seven meta-analyses were included (5,615 patients), providing evidence for different modalities of brain stimulation techniques. Three meta-analyses were evaluated as having high methodological quality, three as moderate, and one as low. The highest quality of evidence was found for high frequency-repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial direct current stimulation, and bilateral rTMS. There is strong clinical research evidence to guide future clinical use of some techniques. Our results confirm the heterogeneity of the effects across these techniques, indicating that different mechanisms of action lead to different efficacy profiles.