Citalopram
Citalopram (; brand names: Celexa, Cipramil and others) is an antidepressant drug of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat major depression, which it received in 1998, and is prescribed off-label for other conditions. In Australia, the UK, Germany, Portugal, Poland, and most European countries, it is licensed for depressive episodes and panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. In Spain, it is also used for obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Medical uses
Depression
In the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence ranking of 10 antidepressants for efficacy and cost-effectiveness citalopram is fifth in effectiveness (after mirtazapine, escitalopram, venlafaxine, and sertraline) and fourth in cost-effectiveness. The ranking results were based on the meta-analysis by Andrea Cipriani. In another analysis by Cipriani, citalopram turned out to be more efficacious than paroxetine and reboxetine and more acceptable than tricyclics, reboxetine, and venlafaxine, but it seemed to be less efficacious than escitalopram.
