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Electroconvulsive Therapy and Cognitive Improvement in a Very Elderly Depressed Patient

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Brian O'Shea ,
Thomas Lynch ,
Jane Falvey  and
Gerald O'Mahoney
Brian O'Shea*
Affiliation:
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Clinical Director, Eastern Health Board
Thomas Lynch
Affiliation:
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Clinical Director, Eastern Health Board
Jane Falvey
Affiliation:
St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin
Gerald O'Mahoney
Affiliation:
St Brendan's Hospital, Dublin
*
∗Newcastle Hospital, Newcastle, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
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Extract

A computer search of the literature revealed that the oldest documented patient to receive electro convulsive therapy (ECT) was a 94-year-old woman (Bernstein, 1972) who was diagnosed as having ‘anorexniearvosa’, but the history was suggestive of paranoid schizophrenia. She received a course of five ECTs and became much less paranoid, ate well, and put on weight. Her daughter lamented the fact that ECT had been deemed to be contra indicated 15years earlier on the grounds of advanced age.

Type
Brief Reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 150 , Issue 2 , February 1987 , pp. 255 - 257
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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