ECT in Traumatic Brain Injury: Case Report
Out on PubMed, from clinicians in California, is this case report:
Electroconvulsive Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury and Schizoaffective Disorder.
Cureus. 2021 Jul 14;13(7):e16390. doi: 10.7759/cureus.16390. eCollection 2021 Jul.PMID: 34408943
The abstract is copied below:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a source of disability and mortality with high rates of psychiatric disorders. Patients with comorbid TBI and psychiatric disorders may be safely treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). In this case report, we present a 34-year-old man with the diagnosis of major neurocognitive disorder due to traumatic brain injury and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. He received an index course of 19 ECT treatments with clinical improvements in his psychosis, mood, and cognition. This case may support the utilization of ECT for patients with comorbid TBI and schizoaffective disorder.
Keywords: ect; electroconvulsive therapy; psychosis; schizoaffective disorder; tbi; traumatic brain injury
The pdf is here.
This is a well-written case report that adds to the small literature about the efficacy of ECT in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Some of the details are wonky (there is a large table with the motor and EEG seizure lengths for each treatment-I'm not sure why this has become common in the recent literature- as space filler? or continuing the obsession with seizure length?)
In any case, TBI is unfortunately common, and there is no reason to think ECT would not be helpful in well-chosen patients with appropriate target psychiatric/behavioral symptoms. It is good to know about this case and the relevant literature, if you are asked to consult on such a patient. A full read will be ~10 minutes.
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