Clinical Neuroscience of ECT (CNECT)

 I will be on hiatus for the next couple of weeks and sporadically thereafter throughout the month of August. There is a nasty piece by a prominent  anti-ECT psychologist on PubMed, that you should check out. Purporting to be a scientific audit, it is pure defamation. Hard to believe he continues to get published. On a brighter note, I hope you are all having a good summer, staying cool, and checking in on PubMed.

Out on PubMed, from authors in Pennsylvania, is this case report: Catatonia, Pregnancy, and Electroconvulsive Therapy ( ECT ). Gandhi K, Nguyen K, Driscoll M, Islam Z, Maru S. Case Rep Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 7;2023:9601642. doi: 10.1155/2023/9601642. eCollection 2023. PMID:  37456983   The abstract is copied below: Background: Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric syndrome, which typically occurs in the context of another psychiatric or medical condition, with a significant morbidity and mortality risk. Significant medical conditions resulting from catatonia include nutritional deficiencies, skin ulcerations, electrolyte disturbances, aspiration pneumonia, and venous thromboembolism. As a result, prompt treatment is required. Gold standard treatment consists of benzodiazepines, followed by electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) if pharmacotherapy alone is ineffective. With pregnancy and catatonia, there is a high risk of adverse maternal/fetal outcomes, and the risks/benefits of treatment mu...

Out on PubMed, from colleagues in Germany, is this review: Electroconvulsive therapy in children and adolescents in Europe-a systematic review of the literature complemented by expert information and guideline recommendations. Licht C, Weirich S, Reis O, Kölch M, Grözinger M. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Jul 17. doi: 10.1007/s00787-023-02248-y. Online ahead of print. PMID:  37458849   Review. The abstract is copied below: The first documented pediatric use of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) occurred in Europe in 1941. Since then, predominantly successful treatments and reasonable side effects have been reported in severely ill minors. Nevertheless, a shy reluctance determines the controversy about ECT in young patients. This study describes the use of ECT in children and adolescents in Europe. We systematically searched the literature concerning the practice of ECT in minors in all 53 European countries. In addition, we surveyed European experts about national practices ...

 I'll be on hiatus again for the next few days. If you have not yet read the recent ethics article about ECT in Argentina, I highly recommend it. Hope everyone is having a good summer.

Out on PubMed, from international researchers, is this pre-print: Electroconvulsive therapy-induced volumetric brain changes converge on a common causal circuit in depression. Deng ZD, Ousdal OT, Oltedal L, Angulo B, Baradits M, Spitzberg A, Kessler U, Sartorius A, Dols A, Narr K, Espinoza R, Waarde JV, Tendolkar I, van Eijndhoven P, van Wingen G, Takamiya A, Kishimoto T, Jorgensen M, Jorgensen A, Paulson O, Yrondi A, Peran P, Soriano-Mas C, Cardoner N, Cano M, van Diermen L, Schrijvers D, Belge JB, Emsell L, Bouckaert F, Vandenbulcke M, Kiebs M, Hurlemann R, Mulders P, Redlich R, Dannlowski U, Kavakbasi E, Kritzer M, Ellard K, Camprodon J, Petrides G, Maholtra A, Abbott C, Argyelan M. Res Sq. 2023 Jun 1:rs.3.rs-2925196. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2925196/v1. Preprint. PMID:  37398308 The abstract is copied below: Neurostimulation is a mainstream treatment option for major depression. Neuromodulation techniques apply repetitive magnetic or electrical stimulation to some neural target bu...

Out on PubMed, from authors in the USA, is this paper: Chronic pain outcomes of patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy: A systematic review and case series. Yoon IA, Galarneau D. Pain Pract. 2023 Jul 11. doi: 10.1111/papr.13268. Online ahead of print. PMID:  37434489   Review. The abstract is copied below: Introduction: The potential benefits of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in chronic pain and several theories for its mechanism have been reported in the past, but mixed findings have also been reported. In the current systematic review and case series, our primary aim was to assess whether pain and functional outcomes are improved after ECT in patients with chronic pain. Secondary objectives included examining whether psychiatric improvement, specific pain diagnoses, and demographic or medical characteristics were associated with differences in pain treatment response. Methods: We performed a retrospective chart review to identify patients with chronic pain diagnoses ...

Out on PubMed, from authors in Argentina and the US,  is this article: Neuroethics and cultural context: The case of electroconvulsive therapy in Argentina. Castelli P, Guinjoan SM, Wajnerman-Paz A, Salles A. Dev World Bioeth. 2023 Jul 12. doi: 10.1111/dewb.12412. Online ahead of print. PMID:  37436004 The article is here . And from the text: The stigmatization of ECT is exacerbated by the fact that, except for a single private institution, Fundación Fleni, the educational curriculum of resident psychiatrists in Argentina does not include ECT training. While there are no surveys available measuring attitudes of psychiatrists and psychologists towards ECT in Argentina, the common clinical experience is that only an almost insignificant percentage of mental health professionals prescribe it, and mental health professionals tend to advise against it. This is a fascinating, thoughtful and compelling article, a must-read for all ECT healthcare professionals.  The baggage ...