Véronique Desbeaumes Jodoin

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM) | CHUM · Département Psychiatrie-Santé mentale

Background: Chronic vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a recognized treatment for refractory epilepsy and depression. The vagus nerve projects to several brainstem autonomic structures. As pupillary measures are an easy and non-invasive method to evaluate autonomic functioning, we used resting diameter and light reflex measures to investigate the in...

Background: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is a serious chronic condition disabling patients functionally and cognitively. Chronic vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is recognized for the management of TRD, but few studies have examined its long-term effects on cognitive dysfunction in unipolar and bipolar resistant depression. Objective: The p...

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent condition in older adults. Although antidepressant drugs are commonly prescribed, efficacy is variable, and older patients are more prone to side effects. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an alternative therapy used increasingly in the treatment of MDD. Even though rec...

Objectives: Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) carries a major burden on those affected by this disease and significantly impacts their quality of life (QOL). Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has showed promising results on symptoms, but its impact on QOL remains underresearched. This study aims to evaluate the long-term effects of VNS on both QOL...

2022) Transcranial magnetic stimulation and intravenous ketamine combination therapy for treatment-resistant bipolar depression: A case report. Front. Psychiatry 13:986378. About a third of patients suffering from major depression develop treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Although repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and intraven...

Background: Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) was legalized in Canada in 2016, although it has been accessible as an end-of-life option in the province of Quebec since 2015. Before its implementation in clinical settings, few physicians had received formal training on requests assessments. New data indicate MAiD requesters have high rates of psyc...

Background The role of inflammation in major depression is increasingly recognized. Vagal neurostimulation (VNS) is used for the treatment of epilepsy and major medical-refractory depression. VNS has neuropsychiatric functions and systemic anti-inflammatory activity. The objective of this study is to measure the clinical efficacy and assess the imp...

Intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) using 600 pulses is an effective and FDA-cleared transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) protocol for major depressive disorder (MDD). Prolonged iTBS (piTBS) using 1,800 pulses could increase the effectiveness of TMS for MDD, but its real-world effectiveness is still debated. We assessed the safety, toler...

Screening for distress was implemented in our academic hospital with the engagement of patients as partners. Little is known about how they appreciate such participation. This pilot qualitative study aimed to explore their experience. Six participants completed a semi-structured interview, which was transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was perfo...

Treatment resistant depression is challenging because patients who fail their initial treatments often do not respond to subsequent trials and their course of illness is frequently marked by chronic depression. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a well-established treatment alternative, but there are several limitations that dec...

Citation: Noiseux, C.; Miron, J.-P.; Desbeaumes Jodoin, V.; Chu, T.R.; Chouinard, S.; Lespérance, P. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Major Depressive Disorder Comorbid with Huntington's Disease: A Case Report. NeuroSci 2021, 2, 400-404. https://doi. Abstract: Huntington's disease (HD) is a rare genetic disorder resulting in progres...

BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) is now the first cause of disability worldwide. So far, no validated and scalable biomarker has been identified to help with response prediction to antidepressant treatment. Cardiac biomarkers such as heart rate variability (HRV) have been studied in MDD, but few studies have examined its potential use for...

Background: Pathological rumination is a cardinal symptom of major depressive disorder (MDD), resulting from default-mode network (DMN) hyperactivity. Higher baseline rumination have been associated with onset of MDD, and therapies aiming at reducing rumination lead to clinical improvement. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is eff...

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a safe and well-tolerated intervention for major depressive disorder (MDD). Over 150 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been carried out, and its efficacy has been confirmed in dozens of meta-analyses. Real world data has also confirmed the effectiveness of rTMS for MDD in clinical practi...

Although effective in major depressive disorder (MDD), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is costly and complex, limiting accessibility. To address this, we tested the feasibility of novel rTMS techniques with cost-saving opportunities, such as an open-room setting, large non-focal parabolic coils, and custom-built coil arms. We em...

BACKGROUND Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an effective intervention in major depressive disorder (MDD) but requires daily travel to a treatment clinic over several weeks. Shorter rTMS courses retaining similar effectiveness would thus increase the practicality and scalability of the technique, and therefore its accessibility...

Background This work describes the clinical symptoms associated with end of service (EOS) of the batteries of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) generators in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Because neurostimulator software may not provide reliable information on battery depletion, careful monitoring of clinical symptoms during the EOS period is a...

La détresse des patients atteints de cancer est un aspect souvent négligé dans la prestation quotidienne des soins. Cela peut affecter la qualité de vie des malades et leur satisfaction à l’égard des soins qu’ils reçoivent, en plus d’accroître le risque de comorbidité et de morbidité. Le dépistage de la détresse, l’un des aspects considérés dans l’...

Patient distress is frequently missed in everyday cancer care, yet can be associated with decreased quality of life and satisfaction with care, as well as increased risk for comorbidity and morbidity. Considered as an aspect of a patient-centred approach, screening for distress is now an international standard of practice and constitutes an accredi...

PURPOSE : About 40% of patients with cancer will experience significant distress during their trajectory. When unmanaged and persistent, distress is associated with decreased quality of life (QoL) and psychiatric comorbidities such as depression. For many years, data has shown that patients with cancer are at increased risk of suicide compared to t...

This work describes a clinical case in which we used telemedicine to monitor at-home ketamine treatment in TRD. Ketamine has been shown to be a promising and safe treatment for TRD in elderly patients. However, the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly impacting the world and this disease is recognized as being particularly dangerous for the elderly and vul...

Introduction: Recent studies have revealed a possible link between heart rate variability (HRV) and major depressive disorder (MDD), with decreased HRV in MDD compared with healthy subjects. Corrected Q-T interval (QTc) has been suggested to represent an indirect estimate of HRV, as QTc length is inversely correlated to parasympathetic activity in...

Introduction Heart rate variability (HRV) and depression are correlated, suggesting a pathophysiological relationship between depressive symptoms and the modulation of cardiovagal activity. It has been suggested that the corrected Q-T interval (QTc) represents an indirect estimate of HRV. Furthermore, recent depression research has emphasized the i...

Introduction The relationship between sleep and depression is complex and well-established. About three quarter of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have comorbid sleep dysregulations. Current research has emphasized the importance of establishing biologically relevant subtypes of MDD with treatment specificity and prognostic value. Pol...

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Introduction La neurostimulation du nerf vague (SNV) est utilisée en neurochirurgie pour le traitement de l’épilepsie et de la dépression majeure médico-réfractaires. La SNV, en plus de stimuler électriquement le cerveau, exercerait aussi des effets systémiques anti-inflammatoires. Or, le rôle de l’inflammation dans la dépression majeure est de plu...

Objective: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a general cognitive screening tool that has shown sensitivity in detecting mild levels of cognitive impairment in various clinical populations. Although mood dysfunction is common in referrals to memory clinics, the influence of mood on the MoCA has to date been largely unexplored. Method: I...