Clinical control study of citalopram and amitriptyline in the treatment of post-stroke depression

Objective:To compare the efficacy and security of citalopram and amitriptyline in the treatment of post-stroke depression. Method:41 patients with post-stroke depression were divided into two groups which were received citalopram or amitriptyline for 6 weeks respectively.And the curative effect and side reaction were evaluated with Hamilton depressive scale (HAMD),self-rating depressive scale (SDS) and treatment emergant symptom scale (TESS) respectively before and after the treatment in 1st,2nd,4th,6th weekend. Results:The scores of HAMD and SDS decreased more markedly after the treatment than those before the treatment in two groups (P0.05);The scores of HAMD and SDS of the citalopram group decreased more markedly than those of the amitriptyline group after the treatment in 1st weekend(P0.05).But there were no significant differences after the treatment in 2nd,4th,6th weekend.The side reaction was less and slighter in citalopram group than that in amitriptyline group. Conclusion:Citalopram has a similar efficacy with amitriptyline in the treatment of the patients with post-stroke depressions,but the former arises faster,the security is higher,and the side reaction is slighter.