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Published on: April 11, 2019
Hematuria with electroconvulsive therapy: a case report
Steven Blevins1, Graham Greene
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. Sblevins@UAMS.edu
We report a case of hematuria developing during the administration of electroconvulsive therapy. The patient had preexisting hypertension and was on anticoagulant therapy. Diagnostic evaluation revealed the source of bleeding to be the right kidney. The bleeding was transient and not life threatening. Other than acute renal insufficiency that resolved, there did not appear to be any permanent loss of organ function or health related to this event. Although the cause of the bleeding in this patient is unknown, it is suspected that a vascular anomaly, in conjunction with hypertension and anticoagulation, led to gross hematuria. It appears that hematuria has not previously been reported with electroconvulsive therapy and would be considered a very rare complication.
We report a case of hematuria developing during the administration of electroconvulsive therapy. The patient had preexisting hypertension and was on anticoagulant therapy. Diagnostic evaluation revealed the source of bleeding to be the right kidney. The bleeding was transient and not life threatening. Other than acute renal insufficiency that resolved, there did not appear to be any permanent loss of organ function or health related to this event. Although the cause of the bleeding in this patient is unknown, it is suspected that a vascular anomaly, in conjunction with hypertension and anticoagulation, led to gross hematuria. It appears that hematuria has not previously been reported with electroconvulsive therapy and would be considered a very rare complication.
