Structural and functional features of treatment-resistant depression: A systematic review and exploratory coordinate-based meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies
A third of people suffering from major depressive disorder do not experience a significant improvement in their symptoms even after adequate treatment with two different antidepressant medications.
This common condition, termed treatment-resistant depression (TRD), severely affects the quality of life of millions of people worldwide. TRD is of utmost clinical relevance given the impact of residual depressive symptoms on functioning, the higher risk of recurrence, the lower chances of remission, and the risk of suicide (which is at least twice the rate of those with nonresistant depression), causing long-lasting interpersonal problems and social costs. Given its epidemiological and clinical relevance and the little consensus on whether the neurobiological underpinnings of TRD differ from treatment-sensitive depression (TSD), we aimed to highlight the convergent morphometric and functional neuroimaging correlates of TRD.