Electroconvulsive therapy for the acute management of severe agitation in dementia (ECT-AD): A modified study protocol.

Objective: This study began as a single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) to investigate the efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for severe treatment-refractory agitation in advanced dementia. The aims are to assess agitation reduction using the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI), evaluate tolerability and safety outcomes, and explore the long-term stability of agitation reduction and global functioning. Due to challenges encountered during implementation, including recruitment obstacles and operational difficulties, the study design was modified to an open-label format and other protocol amendments were implemented.

Haloperidol and sudden cardiac death in dementia: autopsy findings in psychiatric inpatients.

Objective: Treatment with haloperidol has been shown, in studies using death certificates and prescription files, to be associated with an excess of sudden cardiac deaths, and regulatory warnings highlight this risk in patients with dementia. We used autopsy findings to determine whether the rate of sudden cardiac death is greater in cases of unexpected deaths of patients with dementia treated with haloperidol.

Methods: From 1989 through 2013, 1219 patients with a primary diagnosis of dementia with behavioral disturbance were admitted to a psychiatric hospital, and 65 (5.

Medical outcome of patients with dementia in a free-standing psychiatric hospital.

Background: The hospital outcome of patients with dementia is significantly worse than that of cognitively intact persons of the same age admitted to medical or surgical units but has not been investigated in psychiatric settings.

Aim Of Study: To determine the medical outcome of patients with dementia admitted for behavioral disturbance to a free-standing psychiatric hospital.

Methods: Emergency transfers from the psychiatric setting to a general hospital were used as proxies for medical deteriorations occurring among the 71 patients with dementia (age 78.

Bitemporal electroconvulsive therapy for depression in a Parkinson disease patient with a deep-brain stimulator.

We report the successful treatment of an episode of major depression with psychotic features with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a 78-year-old woman with advanced Parkinson disease who had a left subthalamic nucleus deep-brain stimulator (DBS) in place. Electroconvulsive therapy effectively and safely treated the patient's depression without harming the patient or damaging the DBS hardware. We offer additional evidence about the safety and efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in patients with DBS.

Geriatric psychiatry versus general psychiatry inpatient treatment of the elderly.

Objective: The authors compared the clinical treatment given older psychiatric inpatients on a geriatric psychiatry unit and a general psychiatry unit.

Method: The charts of 50 randomly selected general psychiatry inpatients over the age of 65 years and 50 inpatients from the geriatric psychiatry unit who were matched for age, gender, and primary diagnosis were reviewed.

Results: Significantly greater percentages of older inpatients treated on the geriatric psychiatry unit received complete organic medical workups, structured cognitive assessment, aging-sensitive aftercare referral, and monitoring of psychopharmacological side effects and blood levels than comparable patients on a general psychiatry unit.