ABSTRACT
We report a 56-year-old man with Huntington's disease whose chorea substantially improved after treatment with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). ECT should be considered for medically refractory cases of movement disorders, especially those with severe disability.
Subject(s)
Electroconvulsive Therapy , Huntington Disease/therapy , Humans , Male , Middle AgedSubject(s)
Electroconvulsive Therapy/trends , Antihypertensive Agents/therapeutic use , Depressive Disorder/therapy , Electric Stimulation/methods , Electroconvulsive Therapy/adverse effects , Electroconvulsive Therapy/instrumentation , Electroconvulsive Therapy/methods , Humans , Informed Consent , Parkinson Disease/therapySubject(s)
Electroconvulsive Therapy , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/therapy , Comorbidity , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Depressive Disorder/therapy , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/psychology , Personality Inventory , Psychosurgery , Research Design/standards , Severity of Illness Index , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
A patient receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), clozapine, and intravenous caffeine sodium benzoate developed supraventricular tachycardia. This was rapidly treated with intravenous verapamil. Subsequent maintenance ECT given without caffeine was well tolerated. We believe the combination of clozapine and caffeine at the time of ECT was responsible for the arrhythmia.
Subject(s)
Affective Disorders, Psychotic/therapy , Caffeine/adverse effects , Clozapine/adverse effects , Depressive Disorder/therapy , Electroconvulsive Therapy/adverse effects , Tachycardia, Supraventricular/chemically induced , Affective Disorders, Psychotic/psychology , Aged , Caffeine/administration & dosage , Clozapine/administration & dosage , Combined Modality Therapy , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Drug Therapy, Combination , Electrocardiography/drug effects , Female , Humans , Recurrence , Tachycardia, Supraventricular/drug therapyABSTRACT
One hundred and thirty-four patients referred for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) over a 2-year period underwent standardized stimulus dose-titration. No significant adverse events were associated with the dose-titration procedure. Our data demonstrate that seizure threshold increases with age (p = 0.0001) and is higher with bilateral electrode placement (p = 0.0001). Contrary to other studies, our data show the effect of gender is not statistically significant (p = 0.54). If consensus regarding optimal dosing strategies relative to seizure threshold can be achieved, dose-titration may be adopted as a clinically useful step in optimizing ECT technique.
