Face transplants and the difficulties of obtaining research approval.

After over one year of consideration, the world's first face transplant has obtained research approval despite ethical and safety concerns.

What predicts patients' expressed likelihood of choosing electroconvulsive therapy as a future treatment option?

Objective: To examine the relationship between stated intention to choose electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a future treatment option and measures of function and quality of life, mood, and cognition in the month after this therapy. Understanding the factors influencing patient choice of ECT is a source of insight into the interplay between measures of response and perceived value of this treatment to patients, lending perspective to patient-centered quality improvement efforts.

Method: In a prospective sample of 77 depressed patients given ECT, we surveyed recipients at 1 month about their expressed likelihood of choosing ECT given a future episode and examined predictors of their responses.