Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2017
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Journal of Geriatric Mental Health
Volume
4
Issue
2
First Page
115
Last Page
122
DOI of Original Publication
10.4103/jgmh.jgmh_9_17
Date of Submission
February 2018
Abstract
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective therapeutic intervention in the elderly patients with major depression, especially those with psychosis, suicidality, catatonia, nutritional compromise, and resistance to medications. Response rates can be as high as 80%. We present an extensive review of the relevant literature, provide a description of the ECT program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and present results of our experience with ECT in fifty elderly patients. The treatments were safe, well tolerated, and produced high response rates, variably between 68% and 84%. Patients in the long‑term maintenance ECT program continue to show sustained benefits from ECT.
Rights
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution‑NonCommercial‑ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non‑commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
Is Part Of
VCU Psychiatry Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://www.jgmh.org/text.asp?2017/4/2/115/221910