K G Rasmussen

..Both patients enjoyed substantial pain relief. In one case, phantom pain was still in remission 3.5 years after ECT. It is concluded that phantom limb patients who are refractory to multiple therapies may respond to ECT...

..We conclude that ECT does not have a clinically significant effect on blood sugar in non-diabetic patients...

..In all patients, this method was well tolerated and offered distinct advantages compared with an intravenous induction agent. We conclude that ECT practitioners should keep this option in mind for select patients...

..Sevoflurane was associated with significantly better postictal orientation 20 minutes after the treatment. We conclude that inhalational anesthesia with sevoflurane presents a well-tolerated alternative for ECT anesthesia...

..Use of hypnotic agents and anticonvulsants was common. In conclusion, patients with severe depression referred for ECT with a unipolar depressive episode have high rates of psychotropic usage, much of which is inadequate...

..There were no cases of clinically significant rise or fall in blood glucose. We provide recommendations for management of diabetics during ECT...

..These data provide a groundwork for future research on the neurophysiological aspects of ECT...

..Absolute values for seizure duration with both sevoflurane and thiopental are well within typical ranges for those seen with the more commonly used methohexital as anesthetic...

..We describe 3 patients with cavernous hemangiomas who received safe, uncomplicated ECT. We provide recommendations for ECT practice in such patients...

..To test whether antidepressant medication treatment failure predicts differential remission with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in nonpsychotic unipolar depression...

..We describe some of the clinical challenges in this scenario and provide recommendations regarding continued use of ECT in the newly diagnosed epileptic patient...

..None suffered any neurological deterioration during ECT. They provide recommendations for clinical practice with such patients...

..Our objective in this study was to test the hypothesis that prolonged QTc dispersion predisposes to arrhythmias in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)...

..However, review of the literature and of our 3 cases does reveal that ECT can be used safely, at least in the short term. Long-term outcomes in such patients remain uncertain...

..We conclude that although it is ideal to have normal sodium values before ECT, mild abnormalities do not necessarily presage prolonged seizures or lower seizure thresholds in ECT...

..We argue that some ECT patients are primarily motivated by the primary or secondary gain of being medical patients and that this needs to be considered by the clinician so as not to administer the treatments unnecessarily...

..The purpose of this article is to describe the design characteristics and challenges of the trial and of our method of dealing with the lack of double-blind outcome assessment...

..In the less severely depressed group, high somatic anxiety and hypochondriasis predicted a low likelihood of sustained remission with ECT. In the more severely depressed group, these traits were not predictive of ECT outcome...

..In this article, we review the literature on the use of ECT in pain patients, suggest possible neurobiologic bases for the efficacy of ECT in such patients, and conclude with our recommendations for current clinical practice...

..Although the available data consist largely of cases and case series, ECT is effective in treating psychopathology despite the comorbidity. With appropriate precautions and monitoring during and after ECT, complications can be minimized...

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..Besides providing therapeutic benefits, these 3 methods may help elucidate the pathophysiology of psychiatric illness...

..We conclude that ECT should not be automatically discarded in patients receiving palliative care and offer some guidelines for its use in this population...

..Carrier status for the long allele has been associated with a better response to serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant medications in most studies...

..All of them enjoyed substantial relief from depression with ECT, which they tolerated well. It is concluded that ECT can be effective in treating depression associated with probable Lewy Body dementia...

..To test whether pre-electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) medication resistance is associated with post-ECT relapse rates...

..There has been concern about persisting cardiac effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Several studies have analyzed Holter monitor recordings before and after ECT, and generally have found no significant effects...

..In this report, the sham ECT literature is reviewed in detail, and the author discusses possible mechanisms by which sham-treated patients improved...

..We conclude that none of the commonly used perianesthetic medications or variations in ECT electrode placement are associated with orthostatic hypotension after ECT treatments...

..We conclude that use of "stress doses" of extra steroid medication is unnecessary in ECT practice and recommend that patients receive their usual morning dose of steroid before ECT treatments...

..We conclude that if thiopental is used for anesthetic induction in electroconvulsive therapy in the dose range described herein, modest dose reduction and combination with remifentanil does not reliably prolong seizure duration...

..The results indicated that neither of these factors, nor dose of succinylcholine, correlated with myalgias. We conclude that dose adjustments to succinylcholine are unlikely to affect complaints of myalgias in ECT patients...

..The authors provide recommendations for the approach to acutely ill neurologic patients with regard to the use of ECT...

..In this article, the author outlines what he believes are methodological problems that have been common in research studies to validate melancholia...

..Suggestions for future ECT/melancholia studies are offered...

..In this report, we describe 12 patients in whom the combination of lithium and ECT was deemed safe. We also provide a comprehensive review of published literature and provide detailed recommendations for clinical practice...

..Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a potential treatment option for patients who have failed medication trials...

..We conclude that extended maintenance ECT is efficacious and well tolerated and reduces hospital use for a population of chronically depressed patients refractory to medication...

..To compare the memory effects of continuation electroconvulsive therapy (C-ECT) versus continuation pharmacologic intervention (C-PHARM) at 12 and 24 weeks after completion of acute electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)...

..It is unclear whether ECT, which transiently, yet markedly, increases blood pressure and heart rate, can be safely performed in patients with AAA. We investigated the safety of ECT in patients with unrepaired AAA...

..Our secondary objective was to determine the differential effects of induction agents on emergence time, recovery time, and the occurrence of adverse cardiac events and drug effects...

..We discuss practical considerations and risk reduction strategies when using ECT in patients with severe AS...

..Heart rate variability (HRV) has proven predictive value for patients with cardiac and neurologic disorders and correlates with depression severity and treatment effects. Variable changes in HRV after ECT have been reported...

..Hence, ECT was safe in 10 patients with severe aortic stenosis treated at our institution. Our findings may be informative to clinicians who manage the care of patients with severe aortic stenosis who are undergoing ECT...

..Seizure threshold was also higher among the bifrontal patients. We hypothesize that this provides further evidence of differential neurophysiology of seizures induced with these 2 electrode placements...

..Since ECT requires the administration of general anaesthesia, it is assumed that extra care should be taken with asthmatic patients before and during ECT. We sought to investigate the safety of ECT in asthmatic patients...

..We conclude that most epileptic patients can be treated with ECT without dose adjustment in antiepileptic medications and provide general recommendations for safe use of ECT in this population...

..In neither group was there a statistically significant change in blood pressure with a course of ECT. We conclude that a course of ECT does not worsen blood pressure in hypertensive patients beyond the peritreatment period...

..The biggest drop in seizure duration along a course of treatments occurs between the first and second treatments; beyond that, seizure duration remains relatively constant...

..We conclude from this experience that with proper pre-ECT cardiac and pacemaker/defibrillator assessment, ECT can be safely and effectively administered to patients with an implanted cardiac device...

..To determine the presence of possible risk factors for arrhythmias during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) by assessing QTc dispersion on the baseline electrocardiogram...

..Though further research would be helpful, this case provides evidence that in a glaucomatous patient controlled with medicines or surgery, ECT probably will not cause a significant rise in IOP...

..In this article, I review recent research that bears on these aspects of ECT practice. Additionally, I review some findings on the neurobiological effects of ECT...

..CONCLUSIONS: Our findings refute previous reports of dangerous hyperglycemia or improved glycemic control due to ECT in insulin-requiring type 2 diabetes, and suggest that ECT is safe and efficacious in these patients...

..Education improved their decisional capacity. There is an endpoint beyond which additional educational intervention does not result in measurable improvement in decisional capacity...

..We describe the safe use of ECT in 6 patients with arachnoid cysts. We conclude that such lesions are probably not associated with increased morbidity in ECT but that neurological evaluation pretreatment is indicated...

..Furthermore, if there is otherwise a reason for continuing the MAOI, it can be continued during index ECT or initiated during maintenance ECT...

..Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) involves the administration of general anesthesia and assisted ventilation while the patient is apneic...

..There were 18 deaths within 30 days of the final treatment, none related to ECT. These data are concordant with those of other published large series, and we conclude that ECT is an extremely safe procedure...

..The results of this study will promote more effective and safer treatment of the most severely ill depressed patients. ..