Depression in Patients with Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3 (SCA3)

Excerpt

We thank Saute et al. for their insightful letter commenting on our recent article in Cerebellum [1]. The data they obtained in their current study as well as the results of their previous study [2] further emphasize the relevance of depressive symptoms in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) patients. Whereas our SCA3 group comprised 15 patients, representing one out of four SCA subgroups studied, Saute et al. focused on SCA3 and evaluated depressive symptoms in a group of 49 SCA3 patients, applying also the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Within this large group of SCA3 patients, a varying severity of depression was detected, including moderate and severe depression, whereas we found only mildly depressed mood in our SCA3 group with BDI. Our study revealed a major correlation of depressed mood with dominant hand performance and only a weak correlation with Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) scores, which rather reflect disease severity in general than motor function alone. Saute et al. further demonstrated correlations of BDI scores to neurological disability as assessed by the Barthel Index [2], and now also to SARA scores. This does not necessarily represent conflicting data. …