Electroconvulsive therapy improves clinical manifestations of treatment-resistant depression without changing serum BDNF levels.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). It may act through intracellular process modulation, but its exact mechanism is still unknown. Animal research supports a neurotrophic effect for ECT.

Epilepsy and brain injury: a case report of a dramatic neuropsychiatric vicious circle.

Primary Objective: Early treatment of epilepsy is warranted to avoid possible severe consequences. This study aimed to assess the value of treatment in a patient who developed epilepsy after major brain surgery.

Design: Case description.

Efficacy of add-on deep transcranial magnetic stimulation in comorbid alcohol dependence and dysthymic disorder: three case reports.

Background: Craving for alcohol is associated with abnormal activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) has shown promise in the treatment of depression. There are few treatment options for treatment-resistant dysthymic disorder comorbid with alcohol use disorder.

Electroconvulsive therapy in a man with comorbid severe obesity, binge eating disorder, and bipolar disorder.

A 41-year-old man with comorbid binge-eating disorder, severe obesity, and bipolar disorder since the age of 20 years, resistant to drug and psychotherapy combinations, worsened progressively. Relentless weight gain forced him to immobility and dependence on others. He was hospitalized for a mixed-mood episode with anxiety, mystical delusions, and auditory hallucinations.

Effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy in a patient with a treatment-resistant major depressive episode and comorbid body dysmorphic disorder.

A 24-year-old man experiencing comorbid body dysmorphic disorder since age 16 years, complicated in recent months by a major depressive episode with psychotic features, showed resistance to various drug and psychotherapy combinations. We suggested electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to overcome treatment resistance. After 1 ECT cycle, mood and anxiety symptoms improved significantly, delusional interpretations and ideas of reference subsided, and dysmorphophobic symptoms improved as well.

Life-saving electroconvulsive therapy in a patient with near-lethal catatonia.

A young woman with bipolar I disorder and comorbid catatonia on enteral nutrition from several months, developed a form of near-lethal catatonia with weight loss, pressure sores, muscle atrophy, electrolyte imbalance, and depression of vital signs. A compulsory treatment was necessary, and informed consent was obtained from her mother for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). After 7 ECT sessions, the patient recovered and resumed feeding.

Prevention of relapse with maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in elderly patients with major depressive episode.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (mECT) in elderly patients with treatment-resistant Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition major depressive episode.

Methods: Seven elderly patients with treatment-resistant major depressive episode were treated with a complete ECT cycle. Thereafter, they received one monthly ECT session as maintenance for 1 year.

Electroconvulsive therapy in a physically restrained man with comorbid major depression, severe agoraphobia with panic disorder, and histrionic personality disorder.

A 36-year-old man with comorbid panic disorder with agoraphobia, major depression, and histrionic personality disorder since age 21 was resistant to combined drug and psychotherapy treatment. His conditions had progressively worsened with time, causing him to withdraw socially and to simultaneously require continuous physical restraint, which further worsened his functioning. He spent almost 3 consecutive years in restraint, until he consented to receive bilateral ECT treatment.