CNS Response Provides Poster Review Regarding The Use Of SSRIs In Children And Adolescents

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Depression
Article Date: 17 Nov 2008 - 4:00 PST

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CNS Response, Inc. (OTCBB: CNSO) reported today the results of a study presented at the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress by Daniel Hoffman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer for CNS Response. The poster presentation, titled "First Do No Harm: Children and SSRIs," provided an analysis of the utilization of SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) as a first-line treatment in children or adolescents without the benefit of a physiologic marker technology, such as CNS Response rEEG(R)-guided pharmacotherapy.

"This is my second poster on how rEEG personalized medicine has helped advance our medical obligation to 'First Do No Harm,'" commented Dr. Hoffman. "Due to the FDA's warning of suicide risk, coupled with the popularity of SSRI prescriptions for children and adolescents, we reviewed the CNS Response rEEG database and associated reports, in combination with our own patient data, to look for any trends in this age range that might provide further insights in consideration of these medications. The results beg for a larger analysis, as the findings give credence to SSRIs not being the drug of choice for some children and adolescents with depression. A system, like rEEG, to better guide appropriate selection of those children and adolescents, would be of great value to all."

Researchers had the benefit of two data sets. The first data set was the rEEG analysis of 65 unmedicated patients and their associated rEEG-guided medication report. The second data set was comprised of 15 patients whose outcomes were known after following the rEEG treatment guidance.

Results in the 15 patients were used to estimate probable results, based on stratification of the larger group of 65 patients through their own rEEG response prediction. The rEEG database gives a predictive probability score of medication response delineated by medication class, type and specific drug, where Sensitive has an 80 percent or greater probability, Intermediate has a 35 to 85 percent probability, and Resistant has a < 35 percent probability that patients with this brainwave (QEEG) pattern will have a positive response.

One conclusion of this analysis was that, at most, 26 percent of these patients might be expected to sustain a good response to an SSRI. Seventy-four percent would not be expected to be responders, or their response probability would be so low as to question the risk of negative response to the probability of positive response. The poster notes, "These results question the rationalization of SSRIs as a first-line treatment without the benefit of some physiologic marker to select the appropriate child or adolescent candidate."

"While it is difficult to draw scientific conclusions from this non-statistically sampled review, the low number of cases indicating SSRI responsiveness was noteworthy, given the clinical popularity of those medications," said CNS Response Chief Executive Officer Len Brandt. "I think this is an example of the utility of rEEG's ability to extend beyond specific, personalized medication to use as an analytical tool in consideration of medical policy."

The full poster presentation and analysis of results are available at http://www.cnsresponse.com/ssriposterpresentation

About CNS Response

CNS Response is a life-sciences data company whose patented system provides treatment guidance to psychiatrists and other physicians for patients with behavioral (mental or addictive) disorders. This technology allows CNS Response to create and provide simple reports ("rEEG(R) Reports") that specifically guide physicians to treatment strategies based on the patient's own physiology.

rEEG(R) utilizes traditional electroencephalography (EEG) in conjunction with a normative database and a proprietary clinical (symptomatic) database to identify the following: (1) medication classes most likely to be needed; and (2) medications within these classes with the most probable treatment potential for each patient. Reports are provided to physicians in a relationship analogous to that of a reference laboratory. Prospective, retrospective and field studies of treatment-resistant patients have reported treatment success of 70 percent or greater in managed care, outpatient psychiatric and residential substance abuse clinical settings.

In addition to providing analytical support to physicians, CNS Response is also an aid to pharmaceutical developers, who can use rEEG to (1) stratify study populations to improve the success of FDA clinical trials; (2) provide insight on effective therapeutic dosing of investigational drugs; (3) identify additional indications for psychiatric medications; (4) provide insight into effective drug combinations; and (5) discover opportunities for decision analytics and support. In addition to these applications, CNS Response continues to investigate the use of rEEG analysis for development of proprietary pharmaceutical opportunities.

http://www.cnsresponse.com

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Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties as set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made herein.

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