title: Stimulus dose-titration in ECT: a 2-year clinical experience.
abstract: One hundred and thirty-four patients referred for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) over a 2-year period underwent standardized stimulus dose-titration. No significant adverse events were associated with the dose-titration procedure. Our data demonstrate that seizure threshold increases with age (p = 0.0001) and is higher with bilateral electrode placement (p = 0.0001). Contrary to other studies, our data show the effect of gender is not statistically significant (p = 0.54). If consensus regarding optimal dosing strategies relative to seizure threshold can be achieved, dose-titration may be adopted as a clinically useful step in optimizing ECT technique.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Beale
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kellner
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Pritchett
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knapp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*; D004566:Electrodes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012640:Seizures / Q000503:physiopathology; D012737:Sex Factors