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Published on: April 11, 2019
Electroconvulsive Therapy as a Powerful Treatment for Delirium: A Case Report
Karen S van den Berg1, Radboud M Marijnissen, Jeroen A van Waarde
1From the *Department of Psychiatry, Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem; †Department of Old Age Psychiatry, Pro Persona, Wolfheze; and ‡University Center of Psychiatry and Interdisciplinary Center for Psychopathology of Emotion Regulation, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.
Objective:
The aim of the study was to describe the successful treatment of delirium with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Methods:
The method of the study was a case report.
Results:
A 75-year-old man, with a recently diagnosed carcinoma of the parotid gland, was admitted with a fluctuating psychiatric syndrome. Delirium was diagnosed, although an acute underlying somatic cause could not be readily established. Antipsychotics and benzodiazepines were not effective. After 7 sessions of ECT, all symptoms ceased. This enabled him to receive radiotherapy for his tumor and enjoy a good quality of life for the remaining 8 months of his life.
Conclusions:
Electroconvulsive therapy is not only a powerful treatment for catatonia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, and delirious mania but also for the most commonly occurring fluctuating psychiatric syndrome--delirium.
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