2008 brings the 70th anniversary of the first electroconvulsive treatment, which was applied in a Psychiatric Clinic of Rome and introduced a new physical therapy to the clinical practice. The electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)--remains as the only method from the earlier therapies practised in the era preceding modem pharmacotherapy. It survived to the present times despite some difficulties. The...

The perceptions of patients and their family members about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are crucial to understanding the meaning attached to having ECT and the impact it has on quality of life. Thus, in this qualitative study, patients and their family members described their perceptions of having electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The experience occurred in two distinct periods in the patient...

objective(s) psychotropic medications produce their effects, in part, through increasing neurotrophin levels in the brain. since studies concerning nerve growth factor (ngf) analysis have been limited in scope, in the current experiments we investigated the effects of diverse psychotropic agents on ngf protein levels in various brain regions of rat. materials and methods male wistar rats receiv...

KATZ, R. J. Animal model of depression: Effects of electroconvulsive shock therapy. NEUROSCI. BIOBEHAV. REV. 5(2) 273-277, 1981.wWe have previously identified a potentially accurate and specific behavioral and neuroendocrine model of depression in the rat. The most effective somatic treatment for severe depressions is electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT). ECT was investigated in the prexlinica...

Human hippocampal choline decreases in major depression episodes. This decrease was recently measured by our group and it has been found that its level normalizes during electroconvulsive therapy. We hypothesized a hippocampal choline increase in the rat brain under electroconvulsive shock (ECS) treatment in an animal model of depression (Learned Helplessness). Method: Rat hippocampi were inves...

We describe a rare case of a 57-year-old women diagnosed with Klazomania (compulsive shouting), rarely reported in literature, complicated by Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), refractory to medical management and treated successfully using electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This is a unique presentation in which compulsions occurring in the context of MDD involved shouting rather than more typical...

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) offers a treatment option for mood disorders during pregnancy. We retrospectively examined 12 pregnant patients who were treated with ECT for their mood disorders. The mean ± SD age of the patients was 28.1 ± 4.8 years. The mean ± SD number of ECTs performed was 9.8 ± 4.5. The mean ± SD Clinical Global Impression score was decreased from 6 to 2.6 ± 0.7 with ECT. ...

We report a case of a 20 years female referred to us with a history of a brief psychotic episode for which she was given inj. Haloperidol. The patient presented in an unconscious state with high grade fever. The diagnosis was kept as neuroleptic malignant syndrome after ruling out other possibilities. The patient did not respond to Bromocriptine and Dantrolene. With the recent evidence of elect...