Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:327-329
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
ECT-induced EEG asymmetry and therapeutic response in melancholia: relation to treatment electrode placement
R Abrams, MA Taylor and J Volavka
Six right-unilateral and bilateral ECTs were equally effective in reducing
Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores in 34 melancholic patients
whose EEG symmetry did not change after ECT. However, a substantial
therapeutic advantage was recorded for bilateral ECT in those patients
whose EEG symmetry changed. Accentuation of ECT-induced EEG slowing over
the right hemisphere was associated with right- unilateral ECT and a lesser
treatment response, suggesting that the therapeutic advantage reported by
some investigators for bilateral over right-unilateral ECT may be
attributed to a poor outcome experienced by those unilateral ECT patients
who developed right-sided EEG slowing.
