Electroconvulsive therapy in elderly patients with intracranial tumor: A case series

✍ Scribed by Suzanne Holroyd

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 342 KB
• Volume: 8
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/gps.930081110

✦ Synopsis

Five cases of depressed elderly patients with intracranial tumors treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are reported. None had adverse reactions to ECT and all had a positive response. The largest tumor was 4 cm in diameter. No case had evidence of increased intracranial pressure or mass effect. Three tumors were meningiomas, the other two were an acoustic neuroma and a pituitary adenoma. Given that increased use of neuroimaging techniques may result in discovery of incidental intracranial tumors in the depressed elderly prior to ECT, this report suggests that ECT in such patients may be administered safely.

KEY woms-Electroconvulsive therapy, intracranial tumor, affective disorder, geriatric psychiatry.