We report a case of Cotard's syndrome associated with psychotic symptoms. A 27-year-old man was admitted to hospital with the diagnosis of schizophreniform disorder. His presenting symptoms, which had started 1 month before hospital admission, were somatic delusions of gastrointestinal and cardiovascular malfunction and the absence of a stomach, which resulted in a decrease in weight from 75 kg...

Lorazepam is commonly prescribed to treat insomnia in depressed patients who receive electroconvulsive therapy (ECT); however, lorazepam may interfere with ECT seizure parameters, and may thereby compromise the efficacy of the treatment. This study therefore sought to assess whether zopicione, a hypnotic agent, interferes less with the ECT seizure. For ethical reasons, the study utilized an ani...

Sudden deaths associated with the use of electroconvulsive therapy are rare. In this case report a 58-year-old male with a 20-year history of bipolar disorder and no history or signs of cardiac illness died from cardiac arrest within one hour of receiving an initial session of modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) to treat a recurrent episode of non-psychotic mania. The patient regained con...

Seizures are the most common major manifestation of central nervous system dysfunction in the newborn. there are many causes, but perinatal asphyxia and haemorrhagic/infarction lesions account for about 75%. there is now considerable evidence that frequent but short seizures in the neonate affect subsequent neurodevelopmental outcome. Studies using eeg or modified continuous tracing of eeg acti...

Abst rac t Objective: This paper reviews the current knowledge of somatic treatment in psychiatry, with a focus on treatment-resistant psychiatric disorders. Method: A computerized search of the literature was conducted on Medline using the words “electroconvulsive therapy”, “transcranial magnetic stimulation”, “vagus nerve stimulation”, “deep brain stimulation”, and “magnetic seizure therapy”....

Serum potassium levels were measured before and during electroconvulsive therapy, in patients anaesthetized with methohexitone and thiopentone. In no case was any dangerous potassium level recorded. In patients anaesthetized with methohexitone, serum potassium levels showed a significant rise following the injection of suxamethonium and an induced convulsion. Patients anaesthetized with thiopen...

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome is considered as a rare but potentially fatal complication of neuroleptic medications e.g.,antipsychotics, sedatives and anti emetics. It is characterized by hyperthermia, muscle rigidity, an elevated creatine kinase level and autonomic instability. The syndrome often develops after the start of antipsychotic or a sudden increase in dosage of the neuroleptic medic...

The underlying mechanism of the therapeutic effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is still unclear. Here we investigated whether repeated electroconvulsive seizures (ECS), an animal model of ECT, in rats induce neuroplastic changes in the subregions of the hippocampus. ECS or sham treatment was given daily for 10 days to adult male rats. Stereological principles were employed to quantify vo...

Lactic acid was measured continuously in the dialysis perfusate emerging from the striatum of conscious, freely moving rats. The continuous measurement utilized a specific enzymatic/fluorometric detector that provided temporal information about the changes in the concentration of lactate in extracellular fluid (ECF). The level of lactate in extracellular fluid was found to be directly linked to...

Dopamine (DA) auto receptor down regulation has been suggested to mediate the therapeutic effect of antidepressant treatments including electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Suggestion has also been made that a single ECT may have antidepressant potential via such a mechanism. The present study was therefore conducted to assess the effects ill a single electroconvulsive shock (ECS) on dopamine auto ...