<qa>  What is the main outcome of rTMS?Previous clinical controlled trials indicate that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation rTMS of the prefrontal cortex may relieve antidepressant symptoms. Most of these studies have used high frequency stimulation of the left frontal cortex. A few investigations have found that right frontal low frequency rTMS, which constitute a more gentle stimulus design has an antidepressant effective at the same level. Compared to ECT rTMS has obvious advantages. The new method implies focal stimulation of the brain, is not inducing epileptic seizures and does not require anesthesia. In addition rTMS does not seem to induce cognitive disturbances. Few studies have compared the antidepressant effect of rTMS with that of ECT. The main outcome indicates that high frequency rTMS of the left frontal cortex has an antidepressant effect which is comparable to that of ECT in the treatment of non-psychotic patients. It is difficult to draw definite conclusions from these studies, first of all because of small and highly selected study populations. In addition different stimulus designs make most of the mentioned studies incomparable. 