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Seizure threshold in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) II. The anticonvulsant effect of ECT.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Coffey, CE; Lucke, J; Weiner, RD; Krystal, AD; Aque, M
Published in: Biol Psychiatry
June 1, 1995

To measure the anticonvulsant effects of a course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), we used a flexible stimulus dosage titration procedure to estimate seizure threshold at the first and sixth ECT treatments in 62 patients with depression who were undergoing a course of brief pulse, constant current ECT given at moderately suprathreshold stimulus intensity. Seizure threshold increased by approximately 47% on average, but only 35 (56%) of the 62 patients showed a rise in seizure threshold. The rise in seizure threshold was associated with increasing age, but not with gender, stimulus electrode placement, or initial seizure threshold. Dynamic impedance decreased by approximately 5% from the first to the sixth ECT treatment, but there was no correlation between the change in dynamic impedance and the rise in seizure threshold. No relation was found between the rise in seizure threshold and either therapeutic response status or speed of response to the ECT treatment course. These findings confirm the anticonvulsant effect of ECT but suggest that such effects are not tightly coupled to the therapeutic efficacy of moderately suprathreshold ECT.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Biol Psychiatry

DOI

ISSN

0006-3223

Publication Date

June 1, 1995

Volume

37

Issue

11

Start / End Page

777 / 788

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Treatment Outcome
  • Sensory Thresholds
  • Seizures
  • Psychiatry
  • Personality Inventory
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Evoked Potentials
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Coffey, C. E., Lucke, J., Weiner, R. D., Krystal, A. D., & Aque, M. (1995). Seizure threshold in electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) II. The anticonvulsant effect of ECT. Biol Psychiatry, 37(11), 777–788. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3223(95)00053-J
Journal cover image

Published In

Biol Psychiatry

DOI

ISSN

0006-3223

Publication Date

June 1, 1995

Volume

37

Issue

11

Start / End Page

777 / 788

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Treatment Outcome
  • Sensory Thresholds
  • Seizures
  • Psychiatry
  • Personality Inventory
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Humans
  • Female
  • Evoked Potentials