Ketamine vs. ECT: Editorial From Dr. Andrade

 Out on PubMed, from Professor Chittaranjan Andrade, is this commentary:

Ketamine vs electroconvulsive therapy: dissecting the surprises.

Andrade C.Indian J Psychol Med. 2023 Nov;45(6):553-554. doi: 10.1177/02537176231219186. Epub 2023 Dec 4.PMID: 38545535 

The editorial is here.
And here:


This editorial, by noted ECT scholar Professor Andrade, starts off by listing some positives about ketamine, then is devoted to a careful and comprehensive point-by-point critique of the Anand NEJM ELEKT-D trial.
The points made are very similar to those we made in this paper:
Ketamine or ECT? What Have We Learned From the KetECT and ELEKT-D Trials?
Ekstrand J, Takamiya A, Nordenskjold A, Kirov G, Sienaert P, Kellner CH, Movahed Rad P.Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2024 Jan 1;27(1):pyad065. doi: 10.1093/ijnp/pyad065.PMID: 38114073
The lay press misinterprets the comparisons between ECT and ketamine, prematurely sounding the death knell for ECT. Show me the data that ketamine is a reliable, definitive treatment for an episode of severe mood disorder, particularly psychotic depression. Oh wait, I didn't think so...
Kudos to Professor Andrade for his cogent critique of the ELEKT-D study.

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