Electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant mania: case reports

• Autor(a) principal: Soares,Marcia Britto de Macedo
• Data de Publicação: 2002
• Outros Autores: Moreno,Ricardo Alberto, Moreno,Doris Hupfeld
• Tipo de documento: Relatório
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista do Hospital das Clínicas
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0041-87812002000100006
• topic: Bipolar mood disorder; Mania; Treatment; Drug resistance; Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy is known to be effective in the treatment of mood disorders, more specifically for depression and mania. Although a large body of evidence confirms the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of mania, few prospective studies have been done to assess its effectiveness in treatment-resistant manic episodes. These case reports describe the initial results of a study that is being conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Electroconvulsive therapy among treatment-resistant bipolar patients. METHODS: Three manic patients (according to DSM-IV criteria) who were considered treatment-resistant underwent a series of 12 bilateral Electroconvulsive therapy sessions. Before the treatment and then weekly, they were evaluated with the following rating scales: Young Mania Rating Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and Clinical Global Impressions-Bipolar Version. RESULTS: The 3 patients showed a satisfactory response to Electroconvulsive therapy, although some differences in the course of response were observed. CONCLUSION: These case reports suggest that Electroconvulsive therapy needs further evaluation for the treatment of resistant bipolar patients.