Reduced Cerebral Blood Flow After ECT: Small MRI Study From China

Out on PubMed, from investigators in China, is this study:

Regional cerebral blood flow in major depression treated with electroconvulsive therapy: an arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance study.

Shi Y, Li J, Tong P, Yang J, Zhang H, Dong L.Neurocase. 2022 Feb 27:1-5. doi: 10.1080/13554794.2022.2044861. Online ahead of print. PMID: 35225161



The abstract is copied below:

Until recently, regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in major depressive disorder (MDD) patients treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) using arterial spin labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have seldom been studied. We report here 10 patients with MDD treated by bilateral frontotemporal ECT. rCBF was assessed with ASL MRI pre- and post-ECT, and compared with patients treated by antidepressants. Compared to pre-ECT, rCBF significantly decreased in the bilateral frontal gyrus. Compared to medication, in patients treated with ECT, rCBF showed a significant decrease in the left amygdala, parahippocampal and olfactory gyrus, and right occipital, lingual, calcarine gyrus, and significantly increased in the bilateral frontal gyrus and right frontal gyrus. Compared with antidepressants, ECT altered rCBF, and showed potential to be a superior treatment for major depressive disorder.

Keywords: Electroconvulsive therapy; arterial spin labeling; magnetic resonance imaging; major depressive disorder; regional cerebral blood flow.

The article is here.

And from the text:


This is a small, well-presented MRI study (n=10) using arterial spin labeling (ASL) that shows localized decreased cerebral blood flow after ECT. This finding is consistent with some of the older SPECT/PET literature showing decreased frontal activity after ECT. The comparison of ECT with antidepressant medications is interesting. The authors note that ASL has not been used extensively to study ECT patients and call for replication studies. For students/scholars of the ECT neuroimaging literature, I recommend a full read, ~ 15 minutes.




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