ECT, Autism and COVID-19

Out on PubMed, from Lee Wachtel, in JECT, is this commentary:Far From an Elective Procedure: Electroconvulsive Therapy and Autism in the Era of COVID-19.

Wachtel LE.J ECT. 2020 Aug 18. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000720. Online ahead of print.PMID: 32826708
The pdf is here.
In this commentary, Lee Wachtel, from the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, makes the case for the the urgent need to continue uninterrupted maintenance ECT for patients with autism and catatonic and self-injurious behaviors. She illustrates this point with two compelling case vignettes. Dr. Wachtel has pioneered the use of ECT for this vulnerable population and is among the handful of child psychiatrists in the United States with in-depth ECT experience. In this piece, she makes the additional important observation that patients with disabilities are are more vulnerable to be infected with, and have more severe symptoms from, COVID-19 than the general population.

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