The antiobsessional effects of clomipramine do not require concomitant affective disorder.

Two multicenter double-blind trials of clomipramine (CMI) vs. placebo were carried out in patients with DSM-III defined obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Study entry criteria were similar, but the trials differed in their permitted initial degree of affective disturbance. Subgroups of patients with primary OCD and no mood disturbance were identified in both trials. Analyses of findings from both trials were essentially equivalent and were consistent with significant antiobsessional effects of CMI but not placebo in nondepressed patients with primary OCD. Further comparisons with subgroups with concomitant affective disturbance did not demonstrate marked differences in outcome.