Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:596-601
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
ECT and memory: brief pulse versus sine wave
LR Squire and JA Zouzounis
The authors evaluated the effects on memory of ECT given with either
unilateral or bilateral electrode placement and with brief-pulse or
sine-wave stimulus waveform. Clinical criteria determined the mode of ECT
and the treatment parameters. As expected, right unilateral ECT produced
less memory impairment than bilateral ECT. Brief-pulse ECT resulted in less
memory impairment than sine-wave ECT during the first hour after treatment
but had similar effects on memory after the first hour. Brief-pulse ECT
might produce less memory impairment than conventional sine-wave ECT;
however, this can probably be achieved in clinical practice only if
treatment parameters that keep stimulation close to the seizure threshold
are developed individually for each patient.
