Cardiac safety of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in bulimic eating disorders

Abstract

BackgroundRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is increasingly used in research. However, cardiac safety is not routinely assessed.ObjectiveThis study aims to investigate cardiac safety of rTMS in people with a bulimic eating disorder.MethodsThirty-eight people with a bulimic disorder were enrolled in a randomized sham-controlled trial. High frequency rTMS was delivered to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.ResultsrTMS did not alter blood pressure or heart rate.ConclusionsOur findings indicated that this rTMS paradigm has no cardiac complications as assessed by blood pressure and heart rate. This adds to the emerging literature on the cardiac safety of rTMS. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.