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Pharmacopsychiatry 2011; 44(1): 39-41
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1265196
Letter

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Bilateral Temporal 1 Hz rTMS (Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Treatment in a Left-Handed Patient with Imperative Auditory Hallucinations

W. Sperling1 , J. Kornhuber1 , T. Biermann1
  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

received 07.06.2010 revised 03.08.2010

accepted 05.08.2010

Publication Date:
06 October 2010 (online)

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This letter describes the case of a left-handed, 37-year-old patient with refractory auditory hallucinations. In spite of antipsychotic treatment with haloperidol, risperidone and clozapine, there was no resolution of symptoms during the entire course of his disease that started at the age of 25 years. The symptoms of auditory hallucinations measured with the SAPS (scale for the assessment of positive symptoms, SS 36–38) improved significantly only after 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic (rTMS) stimulation on the right temporoparietal cortex. Therefore, 1-Hz rTMS of the temporoparietal cortex in patients with auditory hallucinations appears to be a promising approach in the treatment of refractory, and in particular extending disease pictures in schizophrenia. In these circumstances, the question of the localization of the speech centre for the choice of the stimulation site for 1-Hz repetitive TMS treatment seems to be important and should be addressed in future investigations.

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Correspondence

Prof. Dr. med. W. Sperling

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy

Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

Schwabachanlage 6–10

91054 Erlangen

Germany

Phone: +49/9131/85 46194

Fax: +49/9131/853 4105

Email: wolfgang.sperling@uk-erlangen.de

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