Am J Psychiatry 1975; 132:283-285
Copyright © 1975 by American Psychiatric Association
Improvement of Parkinsonism in depressed patients treated with ECT
ZM Lebensohn and RB Jenkins
Two patients with severe Parkinson's disease were treated with
electroconvulsive therapy for a supervening depression. Not only did the
symptoms of depression clear up after only four treatments, but the
parkinsonian signs also showed striking and sustained improvement. This may
be related to ECT-induced changes in dopamine and norepinephrine
metabolism. Parkinsonism does not appear to be a contraindication to ECT.
On the contrary, ECT may be the treatment of choice for certain patients
with Parkinson's disease, whether nor not it is complicated by intractable
depression.
