Successful treatment for serious depression with suicidal risk in a heart transplant patient.

Summary

A breakthrough in treating severe depression emerged when a heart transplant recipient experienced rapid recovery through innovative care. Following heart transplantation, the patient developed serious depressive disorder with suicide risk. Traditional antidepressants proved ineffective, but a 24-hour ketamine infusion dramatically improved mood and eliminated suicidal thoughts within a day. This case demonstrates how targeted treatment can protect both mental health and transplant success.

Abstract

Major depressive disorder is related to unfavourable outcomes in patients with severe comorbidities. In transplant patients, major depression is associated with worse clinical outcomes. We present the case of a 55-year-old man with a heart transplant due to heart failure of ischaemic origin. Six months after the transplant he developed depressed mood, anhedonia and suicidal ideation with a score of 20/27 on the PHQ-9 depression screening scale. After receiving mirtazapine 30 mg/night for a week and persisting with a high suicide risk, it was decided to administer ketamine infusion for 24 h, with which a significant improvement in mood was observed, and the disappearance of suicidal ideation 24 h after the infusion. Depression in transplant patients is a factor associated with graft loss and post-transplant mortality, in addition to favouring other negative outcomes such as deep vein thrombosis. Ketamine infusion was shown to be an effective and safe option to treat major depression with suicidal risk in a heart transplant patient.

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