Comparison of the efficacy of sustained-release amitriptyline with maprotiline in the treatment of depressive illness.

Forty consecutive psychiatric patients referred to hospital with a diagnosis of depressive illness were randomly allocated to double-blind treatment with either 50 mg sustained-release amitriptyline or 75 mg maprotiline in night-time dosage. The dosage was doubled after 1 week. Rating scale assessments were carried out regularly over a 5-week period. The results indicated that there was a significant improvement with both drugs which occurred at approximately the same speed and to the same extent. Side-effects were complained of by approximately as many patients on both forms of treatment.