Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T05:29:26.745Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Electroconvulsive Therapy and Cognitive Improvement in a Very Elderly Depressed Patient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Brian O'Shea ,
Thomas Lynch ,
Jane Falvey  and
Gerald O'Mahoney
Brian O'Shea*
Affiliation:
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Clinical Director, Eastern Health Board
Thomas Lynch
Affiliation:
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Clinical Director, Eastern Health Board
Jane Falvey
Affiliation:
St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin
Gerald O'Mahoney
Affiliation:
St Brendan's Hospital, Dublin
*
∗Newcastle Hospital, Newcastle, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

A computer search of the literature revealed that the oldest documented patient to receive electro convulsive therapy (ECT) was a 94-year-old woman (Bernstein, 1972) who was diagnosed as having ‘anorexniearvosa’, but the history was suggestive of paranoid schizophrenia. She received a course of five ECTs and became much less paranoid, ate well, and put on weight. Her daughter lamented the fact that ECT had been deemed to be contra indicated 15years earlier on the grounds of advanced age.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 150 , Issue 2 , February 1987 , pp. 255 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexopoulos, G. S., Shamoian, C. J., Lucas, J., Weiser, N. & Berger, H. (1984) Medical problems of geriatric psychiatric patients and younger controls during electroconvulsive therapy. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 32, 651–654.Google Scholar
Bernstein, I. C. (1972) Anorexia nervosa: 94-year-old woman treated with electroshock. Minnesota Medicine, 55, 552–553.Google Scholar
DePaulo, J. R., Folstein, M. F. & Gordon, B. (1980) Psychiatric screening on a neurological ward. Psychological Medicine, 10, 125–132.Google Scholar
Fink, M. (1979) Convulsive Therapy-Theory and Practice. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. & McHugh, P. R. (1975) “Minimental state”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.Google Scholar
Fraser, R. M. & Glass, I. B. (1978) Recovery from ECT in elderly patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 524–528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karlinsky, H. & Shulman, K. I. (1984) The clinical use of electroconvulsive therapy in old age. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 32, 183–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Shea, B. (1985) Antidepressant cardiotoxicity. Irish Medical Journal, 78, 22–24.Google ScholarPubMed
Raskind, M. (1984) Electroconvulsive therapy in the elderly. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 32, 177–178.Google Scholar
Small, G. & Mandel, M. R. (1981) The medically ill elderly, tricyclic response, and ECT. American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 703–704.Google Scholar
Weiner, R. D. (1982) The role of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depression in the elderly. Journal of the American Society, 30, 710–712.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.