[Preliminary report on the efficacy and safety of brief-pulse ECT in depression]

Because there is no report on the use of brief-pulse devices in Japan, we have examined the efficacy and safety of brief-pulse electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on four treatment-resistant depressive patients (three males and one female, 55.0 +/- 17.8 years of age). The ethical committee of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry approved this study and written informed consent was obtained from all of the patients. ECT was administered bilaterally twice a week using atropine, propofol, and succinylcholine (or vecronium) as anesthetic medications. The Hamilton rating scale for depression scores decreased from 30.5 +/- 11.0 to 14.8 +/- 11.5 following a course of 5-12 treatments. Memory and cognitive functioning, evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination, Short-Memory Questionnaire and so on, had not changed a week after the last ECT. These results further support the view that brief-pulse ECT is efficacious and safe for the treatment of depression.