The practice of electroconvulsive therapy in Greece.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in Greece. METHODS: A survey was conducted during the academic year 2008-2009. Electroconvulsive therapy use was investigated for 2007. All civilian institutions providing inpatient care were included. Centers that provided ECT completed a 57-item questionnaire. Centers that did not offer ECT completed a 13-item questionnaire. RESULTS: Fifty-five (82.1%) of 67 institutions responded. Electroconvulsive therapy was offered in 18 hospitals. Only 2 of 10 university hospitals offered ECT. Overall, 137 patients were treated with 1271 sessions in 2007. Only 1.47% discontinued treatment owing to adverse events. There were no deaths. Schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis (41.3%) among those receiving ECT, followed by major depression (28.9%), bipolar depression (9.1%), catatonia (4.1%), suicidal ideation (3.3%), and schizoaffective disorder (2.5%). Physicians considered major depression (93.8%), catatonia (86.5%), schizophrenia (56.3%), and mania (50%) the most appropriate indications. Written informed consent was required in 77.8% of the institutions, whereas the rest required verbal consent. Bilateral ECT was the preferred electrode placement (88.9%). Modified ECT was used exclusively. Propofol was the preferred anesthetic (44.4%), followed by thiopental (38.9%). Seven (38.9%) of 18 hospitals used a fixed stimulus dose at first treatment. Five (27.8%) of 18 hospitals used the half-age method. Continuation/maintenance ECT was used in 33.3% of the hospitals. Outpatient ECT was seldom used. Lack of training, difficult access to anesthesiology, billing issues, and stigma were cited as the main impediments to the practice of ECT. CONCLUSIONS: Electroconvulsive therapy is practiced in moderate numbers in Greece and almost exclusively on an inpatient basis. Lack of training and lack of availability of anesthesiologists were cited as the most common obstacles to providing ECT.

[Electroconvulsive therapy in treatment resistant depression: What is new?]

Despite major advances in the treatment of mood disorders, major depression, a common mental disorder, remains a serious public health problem. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) regardless of the anesthetic agent used, is the most effective form of treatment in major depression and the gold standard therapy in treatment resistant depression. Ketamine is one of the anesthetic drugs approved by the Αmerican Psychiatric Association Task Force Report for use in ECT. However, it has been used infrequently as an anesthetic in ECT. The initial reports suggested that ketamine has antidepressant properties resulting in rapid antidepressant response when administered in subanesthetic dose (0.5 mg/kg) in slow intravenous injection in patients suffering from depression. In recent trials has been reported that ketamine as the only anesthetic or as an adjunctive to another anesthetic agent may enhance the antidepressant effect of ECT either by increasing efficacy or by producing a rapid antidepressant response. ECT with ketamine may also cause less cognitive side effects. The most notable limitations of these studies are the small number of patients enrolled and several methodological differences (patients characteristics, electrode placements, titration method, anesthetic agent used with ketamine). The results of the clinical trials have been summarized in six meta-analysis and suggest that ketamine when used as a sole anesthetic agent or as an adjunctive anesthetic in ECT may accelerates the antidepressant response but does not augment ECT efficacy. It also does not improve the cognitive profile of the treatment. Larger, double-blind randomized controlled trial are needed for a definite conclusion.