A retrospective controlled study into memory complaints reported by depressed patients after treatment with electroconvulsive therapy and pharmacotherapy or pharmacotherapy only.

Few studies have been conducted comparing complaints of memory problems using objective and subjective memory scales in depressed patients who received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) + pharmacotherapy or treatment with pharmacotherapy only. Patients who suffer from depression according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder (Fourth Edition) criteria and who were admitted within the past 5 years before this study in a general psychiatric hospital were screened for inclusion. Objective retrograde amnesia was assessed using the Autobiographical Memory Interview and the Amsterdam Media Questionnaire (AMQ).

Predictors for the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy: chart review of a naturalistic study.

Background: Several variables have been suggested that can predict the efficacy of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) in patients suffering from depression. The results of studies into these predictors for ECT efficacy are not consistent.

Method: In a retrospective chart review of patients suffering from major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder according to DSM-IV criteria who have been given ECT in a psychiatric hospital in the Netherlands, predictors for ECT efficacy were explored.

A meta-analysis of electroconvulsive therapy efficacy in depression.

Recently published controlled studies comparing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with other treatments for depression offer the opportunity to perform a meta-analysis of ECT in depression. Fifteen studies were identified which fulfilled the inclusion criteria. From these controlled trials, 20 effect sizes of ECT were calculated.

Treatment of rapid cycling bipolar disorder in the acute and maintenance phase with ECT.

Literature on the treatment of rapid cycling bipolar disorder is scant. This report describes a case of rapid cycling bipolar disorder successfully treated with ECT. The patient showed a complex combination of pathologic features not unusual in clinical practice.