In the first of several articles on refusal of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in this issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics, an American ethicist refutes the contention that it is morally appropriate to respect the irrational decision of a competent, depressed patient to refuse ECT. He argues that, when the likelihood of benefit is great and the only alternative is prolonged suffering, the p...

Treatment of Cotard's syndrome with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been seen to be an effective treatment option when pharmacological options are not successful. Recent changes in the Mental Health Act 2007 used within the United Kingdom has resulted in clinicians unable to prescribe treatment for patients who have capacity but are not providing consent for treatment. We report a case of a...

Abstract Background Catatonia is a psychomotor syndrome that presents various symptoms ranging from stupor to agitation, with prominent disturbances of volition. Its pathogenesis poorly understood. Benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are safe effective standard treatments for catatonia; however, alternative treatment strategies have not been established in cases where these eith...

Status epilepticus is a life threatening condition with a high mortality rate in spite of aggressive treatment. There is little consensus on third and fourth line approaches in refractory cases. While electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been employed successfully as a treatment for refractory epilepsy and status epilepticus (SE) after exhausting conventional therapy, its use for pediatric patie...

Recent advances in the method of application and monitoring of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has facilitated its use even in the presence of serious physical illness. This case report b of a patient in catatonic stupor who developed an acute respiratory crisis, and in whom the use of ECT led to quick recovery not only from the psychiatric state but also helped recovery from the medical illnes...

This is the first survey of the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the Republic of Serbia. A retrospective chart review was undertaken including all patients having received ECT in Serbia in 2012. Only one center in Serbia offered ECT in 2012 to a total of 54 patients (54% women). Thirty-six (36) patients received acute ECT treatment and eighteen (18) patients maintenance ECT, yield...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an established effective treatment modality for patients with severe depression. Recent studies have focused on developing predictors of response. In this prospective study, using percent decrease in Hamilton Depression Scale (21 items) as the outcome measure, we blindly evaluated 33 inpatients with major depression to determine whether postictal suppression, ...

Organophosphorus pesticides have been used in some cases for suicidal attempts. Such poison can affect plasma cholinesterase activity. The case was a 47-year-old man hospitalized due to suicide attempt with swallowing agricultural poison. The patient, diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD), underwent treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). At the first ECT session, the patient d...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock, is a well-established, albeit controversial, psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Today, ECT is most often used as a treatment for severe major depression which has not responded to other treatment, and is also used in the treatment of mania (often in bipolar...

Thirty-one patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) were followed prospectively for the development of acute organic mental syndrome (AOMS); 15 patients (48.4%) developed AOMS during ECT. For these 15 patients, the average number of ECTs before development of AOMS was 5.5 with average duration of AOMS being 20.1 days. Comparison of these 15 patients to the 16 patients who did not dev...