Inducing adequate therapeutic seizures during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is sometimes difficult due to a high seizure threshold, even at the maximum stimulus charge. Previous studies have demonstrated that seizure threshold is lower in patients treated with right unilateral ultrabrief pulse (RUL-UBP) ECT than in those treated with bilateral or brief pulse (BL-BP) ECT. Therefore, switching ...

AbstractBackground Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been shown to induce broadly distributed cortical and subcortical volume increases, more prominently in the amygdala hippocampus. Structural changes after one ECT session long-term have understudied. Objective The aim of this study was describe short-term induced regions by ECT. Methods brain data were ac...

• Psychiatric comorbidity is associated with lower odds of response to ECT for depression. This primarily among younger and less depressed patients. The rates were still higher than reported pharmacotherapies. should not exclude patients from treatment ECT. Response after tolerability electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in depressive disorders psychiatric are uncertain. Data on a episode first cour...

BACKGROUND Brain serotonin(2) (5-hydroxytryptamine(2); 5-HT(2)) receptors were considered potential targets for therapeutic efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but pre-clinical studies showed that electroconvulsive shock up-regulates 5-HT(2) receptors in contrast to antidepressant medications, which down-regulate brain 5-HT(2) receptors. Positron emission tomography (PET) studies in in...

The author reviewed the placebo-controlled literature on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for depression. No study demonstrated a significant difference between real and placebo (sham) ECT at 1 month posttreatment. Many studies failed to find a difference between real and sham ECT even during the period of treatment. Claims in textbooks and review articles that ECT is effective are not consisten...

BACKGROUND Some studies suggest better overall outcomes when right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (RUL ECT) is given with an ultrabrief, rather than brief, pulse width. METHODS The aim of the study was to test if ultrabrief-pulse RUL ECT results in less cognitive side effects than brief- pulse RUL ECT, when given at doses which achieve comparable efficacy. One hundred and two participan...

Little work is available on the acute and time-dependant dopaminergic effects of single electroconvulsive shock (ECS) and multiple ECS despite the posited clinical utility of such schedules of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) administration and the posited role of dopaminergic mechanisms in iieuropsychiatric disorders. In this study, using the apomorphine-induced motility-alteration behavioural ...

BACKGROUND Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a new method for the stimulation of the central nervous system, is being proposed as a potential new treatment in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). We tested the hypothesis that rTMS would be as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in patients with MDD. METHODS Forty patients with MDD referred for ECT were ra...

OBJECTIVE The study was designed to evaluate the hemodynamic effects of Esmolol and labetalol in patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ninety patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy treatment were studied according to randomized, double blind placebo controlled protocol. Ninety patients were divided into three groups with thirty patients in each group. Pat...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a time tested treatment modality for the management of various psychiatric disorders. There have been a lot of modifications in the techniques of delivering ECT over decades. Despite lots of criticisms encountered, ECT has still been used commonly in clinical practice due to its safety and efficacy. Research evidences found multiple neuro-biological mechanisms...