Improving the antidepressant efficacy of transcranial magnetic stimulation: maximizing the number of stimulations and treatment location in treatment-resistant depression

Objective: To assess the efficacy of increasing the number of fast left repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulations (rTMS) (10 Hz @ 120% of motor threshold (MT) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC)) needed to achieve remission in treatment‐resistant depression (TRD). And, to determine if patients who do not remit to fast left will remit using slow right rTMS (1 Hz @ 120% MT over the right DLPFC). Method: Patients were part of a multicenter sham‐controlled trial investigating the efficacy of fast left rTMS. Patients who failed to meet minimal response criteria in the sham‐controlled study could enroll in this open fast left rTMS study for an additional 3–6 weeks. Patients who failed to remit to fast left could switch to slow right rTMS for up to 4 additional weeks. The final outcome measure was remission, defined as a HAM‐D score of