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Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT):
- ECT, or "shock-treatment”, is used to relieve severe depression.
- ECT involves 8 to 10 treatment sessions over a 3 to 4 week period. A patient can consider ongoing treatment once every 2 weeks to once every 4 weeks over a several month period, if the initial treatment was successful.
- ECT has been shown to be up to 80% effective, but resulting side effects can be high.
- With ECT, the skull acts as a resistor; this requires more energy and results in the scattering of energy throughout the brain. This scattering may produce undesired side effects, such as memory loss, and results in a loss of focal precision of the electrical stimulation to the targeted areas. In contrast, rTMS therapy avoids these drawbacks.
Ilyin et al. in Russia, and Rosa et al. in Brazil, suggest that rTMS is slightly more effective
than ECT in treating depression:
Illyin et al (Abstract, CINP, 2004) N=40, Randomized to either ECT or TMS
Rosa et al (Abstract, ACT Meeting, 2004) N=35, Randomized to either ECT or TMS
Schulze-Rauschenbach et. al, 2005, state that
unlike ECT, rTMS therapy for severe depression has no adverse effect on memory one week after the
end of treatment. Treatment response was comparable between
the ECT group and the rTMS group in terms of
reduction in Hamilton Depression scores:
"In patients treated with rTMS, cognitive performance remained
constant or improved and memory complaints alleviated, whereas in the ECT group memory reclal deficits emerged and memory complaints remained."
- Schulze-Rauschenbach et. al, 2005
Click here to view medical journal articles comparing ECT and rTMS
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