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Identifying and Treating Catatonia in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Case Series From Canada

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 Out on PubMed, from authors in Nova Scotia, is this case series Identifying and treating catatonia in children with neurodevelopmental disorders: A case series. Nejati N, Etches S. J Can Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2024 Nov;33(3):215-222. Epub 2024 Nov 1. PMID:  39534778 The abstract is copied below: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric syndrome that is an increasingly recognized cause of acute behavioural changes in children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). Literature suggests that catatonia can present differently in this population and can be missed due to diagnostic overshadowing. Catatonia is a treatable condition, and management strategies in children with NDD include benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Untreated, it can cause significant morbidity including severe medical complications, and therefore timely recognition and management of catatonia in children and adolescents with NDD is essential. In this case series, we present three cases
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ECT in a Left Ventricular Assist Device Recipient With Treatment-Resistant Depression: Case Report in JECT

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 Out on PubMed, from authors in North Carolina, in JECT, is this case report: Electroconvulsive   Therapy  in a Left Ventricular Assist Device Recipient With Treatment-Resistant Depression. Nash R, Rosenkrans D, Kolarczyk L, Khan A, Hatch E, Gala G, Laughon SL, McClure RK. J ECT. 2024 Nov 6. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000001080. Online ahead of print. PMID:  39531309 The abstract is copied below: Depression and heart failure are highly comorbid, with up to 35% of heart failure patients suffering from comorbid depression. Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) serve as a major lifeline for patients with heart failure; however, despite the drastic improvement in cardiac function following LVAD implantation, up to 24% of LVAD recipients suffer from depression. Depression management in LVAD recipients is often complicated by the recipient's increased risk for antidepressant side effects, adverse drug reactions, and inability to safely receive certain interventional psychiatry therapies,
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Remimazolam Anesthesia for Modified ECT Mitigates Postoperative Agitation: Case Report From Japan

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 Out on PubMed, from clinicians in Japan, is this case report. Remimazolam Anesthesia for Modified Electroconvulsive Therapy Mitigates Postoperative Agitation. Shimono S, Shakuo T, Yamamura A, Hashimoto M, Masuda R, Shida K. Cureus. 2024 Oct 7;16(10):e71037. doi: 10.7759/cureus.71037. eCollection 2024 Oct. PMID:  39525258  The abstract is copied below: Postoperative complications, such as immediate postoperative blood pressure elevation, agitation, and delirium, have been associated with modified electroconvulsive therapy (mECT). Remimazolam may reduce postoperative delirium; however, there are no reports of its use in mECT. Herein, we present a case of effective convulsions and calm arousal with remimazolam in a patient with a history of postoperative agitation. The patient was a 45-year-old man who was diagnosed with severe depression and psychotic symptoms and was treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Owing to previous episodes of agitation upon awakening, remimazolam and
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Electroconvulsive Therapy and Brain Network Reorganization: Dynamic Connectivity Insights and Implications for the Treatment of Depression and Suicidal Ideation

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 Out on PubMed, from a researcher at UCLA, is this editorial: Electroconvulsive  Therapy and Brain Network Reorganization: Dynamic Connectivity Insights and Implications for the Treatment of Depression and Suicidal Ideation. Zavaliangos-Petropulu A. Biol Psychiatry. 2024 Dec 15;96(12):e25-e27. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.09.007. PMID:  39537268 The editorial is here . And here: Here's a dense but delightful editorial about a resting-state fMRi study in Biological Psychiatry  that I have not yet blogged about. The physics and details are complex, but the overarching themes are clear and encouraging: we may have begun to chip away at an understanding of how ECT works to normalize functional brain networks to alleviate depression and one of its most pernicious symptoms, suicidality. This editorial is worth reading very carefully; I hope to blog about the underlying study in the future.
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Self-Rated ECT Outcomes in Patients With Depression: A Naturalistic Single-Site Study in JECT

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 Out on PubMed, from researchers in Minnesota, is this study: Self-Rated  ECT  Outcomes in Patients With Depression: A Naturalistic Single-Site Study. Berger SR, Kung S, Lapid MI. J ECT. 2024 Nov 6. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000001081. Online ahead of print. PMID:  39531338 The abstract is copied below: Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered to be the most effective treatment for severe depression. This study investigated recent ECT outcomes for depression at a large tertiary center, which also provides community care. Methods: Data were obtained from Mayo Clinic Rochester patients ages 18 and older who received an acute course of ECT between August 1, 2017 and April 30, 2024. Patients were included if there was a depressive disorder diagnosis (unipolar or bipolar) and a self-rated Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) within 10 days of the start and end of the acute course. Patients were excluded if the starting PHQ-9 score was less than 10. The age, sex, number of a
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Successful ECT For Psychosis/OCD: Case report From India

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 Out on PubMed, from authors in India, is this LTE: Relevance of  electroconvulsive  therapy in acute and maintenance phase management of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A case study. Joshi M, Khan A, Kar SK. Indian J Psychiatry. 2024 Sep;66(9):868-869. doi: 10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_429_24. Epub 2024 Sep 19. PMID:  39502596 The letter is here . And here: Here's a very interesting case in which a pervasive delusion/obsession/psychotic symptom (the diagnosis seems to cut across various categories) responded well and quickly to ECT. No details of the ECT course are given except # of treatments and that significant response was seen even after ECT #1. I'm going to speculate that it was moderate dose bilateral.  Wouldn't it be nice if there were some simple, standardized dataset to report on a course of ECT? After all, pharmacotherapy trials almost always include dose and duration...
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Survey on "Psychiatric Electroceutical Intervention" Use

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Out on Pubmed, from authors in Michigan and Pennsylvania, is this article: Explaining key stakeholders' preferences for potential policies governing psychiatric electroceutical intervention use. McCright AM, Achtyes ED, Bluhm R, Cabrera LY. Npj Ment Health Res. 2024 Nov 6;3(1):52. doi: 10.1038/s44184-024-00096-5. PMID:  39506102 The abstract is copied below: In recent years, legislators in many states have proposed laws governing the use of psychiatric electroceutical interventions (PEIs), which use electrical or magnetic stimulation to treat mental disorders. To examine how the PEI views of relevant stakeholder groups (e.g., psychiatrists, patients, caregivers, and general public) relate to preferences for proposed policies governing PEI use, we analyze data from a survey on using one of four PEIs to treat major depressive disorder administered to national samples of the stakeholder groups above. We find that the three non-clinician groups' similar PEI policy preferences diffe
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