We report a novel electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) regimen for sustaining the resolution of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) using alternating acute and maintenance ECT (M-ECT) trials. A 64-year-old man presenting with major neurocognitive disorder was admitted for acute behavioural disturbances and physical aggression. With few treatment options, the impact on patients'...

Background Matrix metalloproteinases are involved in neuroinflammatory processes, which could underlie depression. Serum levels of MMP-9 and MMP-2 in depressed patients are significantly altered following electroconvulsive therapy, but an association between altered matrix metalloproteinases after successful ECT and possible relapse has yet to be investigated. Methods Serum was obtained twice...

Schizophrenia is a clinical syndrome of extraordinary importance and complexity. Its early identification is difficult, and our concepts of its main characteristics have undergone many changes in the past century. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was introduced as a treatment for dementia praecox. The initial reports were salutary, and the treatment was widely applied until it was replaced by ps...

Aims and method This national audit examined practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Iraq against local standards. Data were collected by a questionnaire sent to heads of departments or medical directors in the 10 Iraqi hospitals which provide ECT and by examining case notes of all patients who had ECT in the first 6 months of 2013. Results Of the 26 psychiatric hospitals in Iraq, 10 pro...

Background: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is an epileptic encephalopathy, characterized by drug-resistant multiple seizure types. The aim of this study was to determine if the adjunctive use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with LGS and drug-resistant epilepsy is efficacious in decreasing their seizure frequency and also to investigate its safety and tolerability.   Method...

Introduction Sleep deprivation and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) effectively ameliorate symptoms in major depressive disorder (MDD). In rodents, both are associated with an enhancement of cerebral adenosine levels, which turn likely influence adenosinergic receptor expression. The aim the current study was to investigate A 1 (A AR) availability patients MDD as a potential mediating factor ant...

Clozapine, a commonly used atypical antipsychotic, can precipitate a severe withdrawal syndrome. In this report, we describe a case of delirium with catatonic features emerging after the immediate cessation of clozapine subsequent to concerns of developing neuroleptic malignant syndrome. After multiple treatments were found to be inefficacious, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was initiated, res...