Sertraline and venlafaxine: new indication. Prevention of recurrent depression: no advance.

(1) An antidepressant that worked in a depressive episode can be used to prevent recurrences in patients who do not have bipolar disorder. Several antidepressants are at least partially effective in this setting. (2) Sertraline and venlafaxine are now authorised in France for the prevention of recurrent depression. (3) Sertraline and short-acting venlafaxine were both more effective than placebo in single trials (although the data on venlafaxine were somewhat weaker than the data on sertraline). Neither trial has been published in detail. There are no trials comparing sertraline or venlafaxine with other antidepressants in this setting. (4) These trials confirmed the known adverse effect profiles of sertraline and venlafaxine. (5) In practice, these licence extensions have no clinical implications for the management of depression.