Absence of cognitive impairment at long-term follow-up in adolescents treated with ECT for severe mood disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Cognitive functions of adolescents treated with ECT for mood disorder were evaluated at long-term follow-up.


METHODS
At an average of 3.5 years (SD=1.7) after the last ECT, 10 subjects treated during adolescence with bilateral ECT for severe mood disorder completed a clinical and cognitive evaluation, including the California Verbal Learning Test and Squire's Subjective Memory Questionnaire. The same assessments were given to 10 psychiatric comparison subjects matched for sex, age, and diagnosis.


RESULTS
All cognitive test scores of the patients treated with ECT were similar to those of the comparison subjects and did not differ from norms from the community. Six of the 10 ECT-treated patients reported having had memory losses immediately after the ECT course, but only one complained of subjective memory impairment at follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that adolescents given ECT for severe mood disorder do not suffer measurable cognitive impairment at long-term follow-up.
Cohen
D
D
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpétrière, Paris, France. david.cohen@psl.ap-hop-paris.fr
Taieb
O
O
Flament
M
M
Benoit
N
N
Chevret
S
S
Corcos
M
M
Fossati
P
P
Jeammet
P
P
Allilaire
J F
JF
Basquin
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010297:Paris / Q000453:epidemiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome