electroconvulsive therapy in a rural setting. george r martin, md staff physician department of...
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Electroconvulsive Therapy
in a Rural Setting
George R Martin, MD
Staff PhysicianDepartment of PsychiatryJames A Quillen VA Medical CenterMountain Home, Tennessee
Associate Professor, Psychiatry James A Quillen School of MedicineEast Tennessee State UniversityJohnson City, Tennessee
Six Questions
(1) What it is not(2) What it is(3) How it is done(4) For whom does it work(5) For whom does it not work(6) Why is it worth supporting in this region
What it is not
What it is
Part 1: How it began
Ladislas J. Meduna
Ladislas J. Meduna (1896–1964) • Hungary until 1938 then Loyola University &
Illinois Psychiatric Institute• Noted that epileptics and schizophrenics have
differing ratios of glial cells at autopsy• Could induced seizures heal schizophrenia?• Camphor then metrazol. Five treatments• 29 initial cases, 10 “cured” and 3 improved• 10 of first set had catatonia
Ugo Cerletti 1877- 1963• Designed winter camouflage uniforms for
Italian Army • Designed delayed fuses for artillery shells• 1935 Chair, Department of Neurological and
Mental Diseases at the University of Rome • Iatrogenic malaria “cured” general paresis.
Assigned to pick up dinner from local butcher, but butcher out of the specified cut of meat.
Butcher shop to slaughter house– Shocked pigs– stunned and docile – easy to slaughter
Would it work on people? Tried dogs first, lots of cardiac deathsEventually settled on bilateral head electrodes
Lucio Bini (1908 – 1964)• Italian psychiatrist• Colleague of Cerletti• Let’s try it on people with mental illness• “meek and mild,” not looking for cure• Several treatments led to remission lasting for
many months. • Initial patients:– Obsessional, – schizophrenia, – manic-depressive
Mortality rates
Schizophrenia’s morality rate in 1930’s was 20%Mortality of Cerletti’s shocks was 10%Meta-analyses of published data from 1969 –
1996:all-cause SMRs of 1.51 and 1.57 (UK)1997 excess mortality rates suicide (28%),
accidents (12%) and natural causes (60%). Schizophrenia life expectancy UK < 10-15 years US < 15 -23 years
1977-1990 Harvard University the mortality rate in subjects within 15 years
after first hospital admission: major depression without psychosis 20% major depression with psychosis 41%
Current US: Bipolar reduces life expectancy by 9.3 years.
What it is
Part 2: The Preliminaries
1. Patient selection2. Pre treatment workup
Patients for whom ECT should be a serious option
“Before you go home”
Psychotic Depression• Nihilistic delusions• Body rotting from the inside
Catatonia (Schizophrenia, catatonic type)• Stuporous• Excited
Good ECT candidates
Depression: • Relenting and unresponsive• Usual medications contraindicated• Actively suicidal • malnourished/electrolyte imbalance• Prolonged Manic episode (neurodegenerative)
Good ECT candidates
Psychosis• Schizophrenia, unrelenting and unresponsive• Usual medications contraindicated• Actively suicidal• Affective component
PregnancyLargest series is 339 cases (1941 – 1992)
Majority treated for depression
At least partial remission reported in 78%
There were 20 maternal complications reported and 18 were likely related to ECT.
Four cases of premature labor (1.3%)
In all cases, the clinician determined that the premature labor was not related to the ECT.
Miscarriage rate for women receiving ECT during pregnancy (1.6%) not significantly higher than the rate of miscarriage in the general population.
Unusual and “desperate” situations
Parkinson’s Disease
• Depression• Abnormal Movements• Psychosis• Dementia
De la Tourette’s OCDDelusional Disorder Epilepsy
PTSD
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome
Poor candidates
Predominantly personality disorderUnstable logistics/unreliableSomatic focusedAnesthesia risksDrug/alcohol addicts due to anesthesia risksMilitant family member
Pre treatment workup
No “absolute” contraindications• Unstable arrhythmias with risk of asystole• Recent MI and unstable cardiac function• Space occupying CNS entity especially low• Recent hemorrhagic CVA or unstable
aneurysm • Retinal detachment• Pheochromocytoma
Pre-treatment workup
Vital Sign recordingsRoutine pre-anesthesia labsSpine filmsImaging of the head EKG
What it is
Part 3: The treatment itself
The Evolution of the procedure
Early 1940’s introduced to US and UK “Unmodified” sine wave (AC) current, no medsTried curare as paralytic agentSuccinyl choline 1951Late 1950’s general anesthesia1976 Data shows pulsed DC current superior to
alternating current (Blatchley)
AC vs DC pulsed current
Variation of pulse parameters
Recovery room or outpatient surgeryNPOIVAnesthesia monitoring• Cardiac• Pulmonary• BP• External VentilationDriver and not home alone
Caffeine (IV) Romazicon (Flumazenil)Short acting anesthetic • methohexital (Brevital) • propofol (Diprivan)• KetamineGlycopyrrolate (Robinul) peripheral
antimuscurinic Paralytic agent: Succinyl Choline
Pre-existing Medications during ECT
Anticonvulsants and barbiturates • Reduce effectiveness of seizures• If used for epilepsy, replace with benzos• If used as a “mood stabilizer” can be eliminated
during ECT
Benzodiazepines• Almost universal• Neutralized by flumazenil (Romazicon)
Lithium controversial
(1) thought to increase risks of delirium and/or (2) Perhaps prolongs neuromuscular effect of
succinyl choline
Psych Meds during ECT
Anti psychotics.
ECT + trifluoroperazine • BPRS 61 % decrease at 6 weeks • An additional 15 % at 20 weeks
Sham ECT and Trifluoroperazine • BPRS 28% decrease at 6 weeks • an additional 25% at 20 weeks
Antidepressants during ECT
• Studies are meager and not useful
• U of Pittsburgh: All depressed patients start Lithium and Nortriptyline for last week of Tx
• Lag time to effective response to anti-depressants is several weeks.
• EEG Monitoring.
EEG monitoring
Single line tracing, not 21
Determines length and architecture of seizure
Determines that it stopped
Multiple monitored, not additionally effective
Electrode placement
Non-dominant Unilateral – Recommended in 1978– Hope to reduce memory loss– More “missed” seizures– Used at initial treatment and continue if effective
BilateralAlmost universal in US and UKSome memory loss, less now with pulsed current
Seizure Architecture on EEG
1. Recruiting2. Full seizure: Delta waves3. Suppression4. Quiet/Recovery
Treatment Response
Treatments three times per weekSee initial progress after 3-6 treatmentsProgress should be steady, but will plateauGo two more treatments and stopCommon 9-12, 24 maximumMaintenance reduces relapse
Controversies
Memory lossSafetyEffectivenessAnti-psychiatry
Memory Loss
• Retrograde• Usually short term• “autobiographical”• Much less with newer technology• Some patients claim longer, larger loss• Usually resolves within weeks to months• “Can’t concentrate, can’t remember” are
standard complaints of severely depressed.
Glenda MacQueen, MD, FRCPC, PhD Professor University of Calgary (2007) demonstrated some cognitive deficits after ECT. “However, it is… unlikely that such findings, even if confirmed [by others], would significantly change the risk–benefit ratio ofthis notably effective treatment.”
Harold Sacheim, PhD, Columbia UniversityReview of old studies• Memory loss is real• Significant with 50’s technologyNew study 347 patients (2007)• Minimal loss with current type of treatments• Unilateral is no protection• No control group
Safety
Denmark 25 year study, ECT patients’ death rate no different than general population
UK NHS 2011 death rate published as 4 or 5 in 100,000 (not clear if patients or treatments)
Sweden death rate from appendectomy on non-perforated appendicitis was 56 in 73,326 cases, or 76/100,000
Efficacy
Daniel Pagnin, M.D., M.Sc.; Valéria de Queiroz, M.D., M.Sc.; Stefano Pini, M.D.; Giovanni Battista Cassano, M.D.
Efficacy of ECT in Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review
University of Pisa, Italy J ECT 2004; 20:13—20
Reviewed Randomized and non Randomized
Efficacy
Randomized • Predermined criteria of “success”• Decision on medication doses and length of
treatment timeNon randomizedEthics of “sham” ECT and anesthesiaCannot do double blind cross over method
Randomized
The response criteria were defined as a
(1) reduction of at least 50% from baseline to end point on the Hamilton Scale for Depression (HAM-D), or
(2) HAM-D score of 10 or less at the end point, or
(3) clinical judgment of "recovered" or "marked improved”
Date of download: 2/20/2012
Copyright © American Psychiatric Association. All rights reserved.
From: Efficacy of ECT in Depression: A Meta-Analytic Review
Non Randomized
Lancet. 2003 Mar 8;361(9360):799-808.
Efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapyin depressive disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
UK ECT Review Group.
• ECT was significantly more effective than simulated ECT (six trials, 256 patients, standardized effect size [SES] -0.91, 95% CI -1.27 to -0.54).
• Treatment with ECT was significantly more effective than pharmacotherapy (18 trials, 1144 participants, SES -0.80, 95% CI -1.29 to -0.29).
• Bilateral ECT was more effective than unipolar ECT (22 trials, 1408 participants, SES -0.32, 95% CI -0.46 to -0.19).
Why is it worth supporting
• Works for some patients when nothing else does
• Works for some patients who cannot undergo other treatments
• Works in pregnancy
• Requires special training and credentialling• Requires a team: psychiatry, anesthesia,
nursing and administration• Team is easier to sustain than to build from
scratch• Need is growing and start from scratch only
alternative• 2009 did 50 treatments per month, • 2012 have 65 slots per month still not enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFxVA2qG47M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5LIVAaYNrQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjpmYSoApC0&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjFF81ikQJc&feature=related
• Hope you will see it, be able to say “yes” to someone who asks about it.
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