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CompletedNCT00932204Updated Sep 7, 2018

Study of Sequentially Applied Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Obsessive- Compulsive Disorders

An interventional study of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (Magstim rapid magnetic stimulator) in Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, sponsored by Severance Hospital. Completed at 1 site in Korea, Republic of. Open to participants aged 19 Years to 60 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-09-07.

Sponsored by Severance Hospital · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
21
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
19 Years to 60 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of study was to investigate possible therapeutic effects and safety of sequentially combined low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and supplementary motor area (SMA) in patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Read the detailed description

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively common psychiatric disorder characterized by repetitive, intrusive thoughts and time-consuming behavioral or mental acts. Many OCD patients who do not respond to conventional treatments experience severe distress and disruptions in their daily activities. Novel approaches including psychopharmacological therapy and surgical techniques for treatment-resistant OCD have been proposed. With recent advances in non-invasive technique for stimulating the cerebral cortex, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed as a potential therapeutic approach for various psychiatric illnesses including OCD.

Because of contradictory findings and a lack of controlled trials in OCD, rTMS cannot be yet recommended as routine therapy for OCD. However, it may have a potential clinical effect as a putative add-on treatment for OCD and an alternative therapy for treatment-resistant OCD.

For useful clinical applications, it is very important to develop methods to enhance the efficacy of rTMS. There are a number of putative ways to do this, and one of them is sequentially combining two forms of stimulation which are considered to have potential therapeutic effects. More recently, the sequential application of two stimulation regimens (high-frequency left-side rTMS and low-frequency right-side rTMS to the prefrontal cortex) has been found to have a substantial therapeutic effect in patients with treatment-resistant major depression. Therefore, the investigation for a sequentially combining effect of both the right prefrontal and the SMA stimulation would be worthwhile in OCD patients.

02

Conditions studied

  • Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

Keywords

  • obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation
  • right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
  • supplementary motor area (SMA)
03

In context

Compulsive Personality Disorder

367 studies on the registry are indexed under Compulsive Personality Disorder; 67 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 21 is below the median of 37 across 306 interventional studies indexed under Compulsive Personality Disorder.

Browse Compulsive Personality Disorder studies →

Lead sponsor

Severance Hospital is the lead sponsor of 50 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
19 Years to 60 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • OCD patients who had failed adequate trials (a lack of at least a 25% reduction in the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) 15 after at least eight weeks of treatment) of at least two serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SRI) and behavioral therapy.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects were excluded if:

    • they presented with a movement disorder other than a tic
    • any psychotic symptoms
    • other anxiety disorders
    • mental retardation
    • alcohol or other substance abuse within the last six months
    • a history of psychosurgery, encephalitis or significant head trauma
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
21 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Active stimulation

    For the active group, rTMS over the right prefrontal cortex and the SMA was sequentially performed. The rTMS of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was conducted at a point 5 cm anterior to the point at which the MT was determined, and it was administered at an intensity of 110% of the RMT, a frequency of 1 Hz, for 10 minutes, and with an inter-train interval of 2 minutes (1200 stimuli/d). The vertex (Cz) was measured for each patient, and the SMA was defined at 15% of the distance between the inion and nasion anterior to Cz on the sagittal midline, according to the international 10-20 EEG system. The rTMS over the SMA was administered at an intensity of 100% of the RMT, a frequency of 1 Hz, for 10 minutes and with an inter-train interval of 2 minutes (1200 stimuli/d).

    Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (Magstim rapid magnetic stimulator)

  • Sham comparator
    Sham stimulation

    For the sham group, the sham stimulation was applied with the coil angled at 45° from the scalp using the same parameters as the active stimulation group over the same area.

    Device: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (Magstim rapid magnetic stimulator)

Interventions

  • Devicerepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (Magstim rapid magnetic stimulator)

    For the active group, rTMS over the right prefrontal cortex and the SMA was sequentially performed. The rTMS of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was conducted at a point 5 cm anterior to the point at which the MT was determined, and it was administered at an intensity of 110% of the RMT, a frequency of 1 Hz, for 10 minutes, and with an inter-train interval of 2 minutes (1200 stimuli/d). The vertex (Cz) was measured for each patient, and the SMA was defined at 15% of the distance between the inion and nasion anterior to Cz on the sagittal midline, according to the international 10-20 EEG system. The rTMS over the SMA was administered at an intensity of 100% of the RMT, a frequency of 1 Hz, for 10 minutes and with an inter-train interval of 2 minutes (1200 stimuli/d). For the sham group, the sham stimulation was applied with the coil angled at 45° from the scalp using the same parameters as the active stimulation group over the same area.

    Also known as: A Magstim rapid magnetic stimulator with a 70-mm figure-of-eight coil (Magstim Company Ltd, Whitland, UK) was used for treatment.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The primary outcome measure for the study was score on the Y-BOCS. The responder on Y-BOCS is defined as a Y-BOCS decrease at least 25% from the baseline at post-treatment (at 4 weeks)

    Time frame: baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 4

Secondary outcomes

  1. The secondary outcome measures were the scores of MADRS and HARS, to examine the effects on cognitive functions of rTMS, a computerized Stroop task was conducted and side effect checklist.

    Time frame: baseline, week 1, week 2, and week 4

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Yonsei Univ. Health System Severance Hospital
    Seoul, 120-752, Korea, Republic of
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Mantovani A, Lisanby SH, Pieraccini F, Ulivelli M, Castrogiovanni P, Rossi S. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome (TS). Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2006 Feb;9(1):95-100. doi: 10.1017/S1461145705005729. Epub 2005 Jun 28. PubMed 15982444 ↗
  • Sachdev PS, McBride R, Loo CK, Mitchell PB, Malhi GS, Croker VM. Right versus left prefrontal transcranial magnetic stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a preliminary investigation. J Clin Psychiatry. 2001 Dec;62(12):981-4. doi: 10.4088/jcp.v62n1211. PubMed 11780880 ↗
  • Kang JI, Kim CH, Namkoong K, Lee CI, Kim SJ. A randomized controlled study of sequentially applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2009 Dec;70(12):1645-51. doi: 10.4088/JCP.08m04500. Epub 2009 Aug 25. PubMed 19709504 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 7, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00932204
Lead sponsor
Severance Hospital
Responsible party
Se Joo Kim (Professor, Severance Hospital) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 3, 2009
Start date
Feb 2007
Primary completion
Jan 2008
Completion
Jan 2008
Last update
Sep 7, 2018

Study contacts

Se Joo Kim, M.D.
principal investigator · Yonsei Univ. College of Medicine

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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