Early Response to Desipramine Among Women with BN

Many studies have shown that antidepressants are very effective for treating patients with bulimia nervosa (BN). B. Timothy Walsh, MD and colleagues at Columbia University, New York City, recently reported finding preliminary evidence that patients with BN who will not respond to treatment with antidepressants can be identified early in treatment (Int J Eat Disord 27: prepubication abstract).

The researchers based their findings upon data from two previously published studies of the tricyclic antidepressant desipramine. Seventy-seven women with BN were included in the analysis. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to examine the relationship between the percentage of reduction in symptoms at the end of each week and failure to respond to antidepressant medication at the end of the study. According to the authors, patients with BN who did not respond to antidepressants could be reliably identified within the first two weeks of treatment.