Electroconvulsive therapy for seizure control: preliminary data in a new seizure generation and control model

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) effect upon seizure cessation was studied in five male Wistar rats using a penicillin intracisternal injection model (which did not damage the cranial vault). Animals were observed both clinically and electrographically for seizure development. ECT was applied at varying times following onset of seizure, at varying parameters (frequency, pulsewidth, and duration). ECT affected EEG seizure pattern in several different stimulation parameter-dependent ways: (1) modulation to different pattern; (2) increased interictal time; and (3) seizure cessation. Stimulation with higher, sustained current (50 mA) led to changes in seizure amplitude; stimulation at pulses of current led to seizure frequency dimunition, and at certain characteristic pulses "capture" was seen as the EEG activity mimicked the ECT-inducing stimulation pattern. Interictal time was usually increased by sustained, continuous (rather than pulsatile) stimulation. Seizure activity was completely stopped in several instances using parameters of 800 pulses at a frequency of 200 Hz, with 2.56 ms pulsewidth and 50 mA of current (in consecutive iterations for one specimen). No ECT-related adverse effects were noted. Analogous to the heart, pacing or defibrillating the brain using external scalp electrodes may have a role in the control of otherwise intractable seizures.