Catatonia With Pulmonary Complications Treated with ECT : Case Report From China

 Out on PubMed, from authors in China, is this case report:

The abstract is copied below:

Backgroud: Catatonia encompasses a group of severe psychomotor syndromes affecting patients' motor, speech, and complex behaviors. Common features include rigidity, reduced mobility, speech, sputum production, defecation, and eating. Risks associated with catatonia, such as increased muscle tension and reduced swallowing and coughing reflexes, along with risks from therapeutic approaches like prolonged bed rest and sedative drugs, can elevate the risk of aspiration pneumonia, severe pneumonia, and acute respiratory failure. These complications significantly impede catatonia treatment, leading to poor prognosis and jeopardizing patient safety.

Case description: In this report, we present a case of catatonia complicated by severe pneumonia and respiratory failure, successfully managed with modified electroconvulsive therapy alongside tracheotomy. We hope this case provides valuable insights for psychiatrists encountering similar scenarios, facilitating the development of rational therapeutic strategies for prompt improvement of patient condition.

The report is here.

And from the text:

First, the good: a patient with severe pulmonary complications from catatonia recovered with ECT.

Now the bad: the report is a bit of a dog's breakfast, with some obvious language challenges inherent when Chinese authors publish in a Spanish journal. I don't think it is too much to ask that some review and editing be done before publication. And I wish authors would finally stop referring to ECT as mECT when they just mean ECT (this m is for "modified", not "maintenance").