Similar clinical improvement of depression using 0.5-ms and 1-ms pulse widths in bilateral electroconvulsive therapy.

Similar clinical improvement of depression using 0.5-ms and 1-ms pulse widths in bilateral electroconvulsive therapy. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2019 Dec 13;: Authors: de Arriba-Arnau A, Soria V, Salvat-Pujol N, Menchón JM, Urretavizcaya M Abstract There is a lack of research regarding 0.5-ms pulse width (PW) in bilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and number of treatment sessions between groups receiving 0.5-ms and 1-ms PW ECT. Ninety-four patients with unipolar major depression treated with acute bilateral ECT were analysed retrospectively, grouped as consecutive patients treated with 0.5-ms PW ECT (n = 47), and age- and sex-matched patients treated with 1-ms PW ECT. Clinical and ECT data were extracted from clinical records. Symptom evaluations and global cognitive screening at baseline and post-ECT were administered by trained psychiatrists. The Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDRS-21) was rated weekly. Efficacy and number of treatment sessions were compared between groups. PW was explored as a predictor of mean decrease in HDRS and number of treatment sessions by regression models. Group characteristics did not differ at baseline. The mean decrease in HDRS in the 0.5- and 1-ms PW [25.85 (7.79) vs. 24.33 (6.99), respectively], response (95.7% vs. 97.9%), remission (87.2% vs. 80.9%) and mean number of treatment sessions [11.28 (3.85) vs. 11.34 (3.36)] were ...
Source: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci Source Type: research