title: ECT in Austria: Is It Still a Valid Treatment? Appraisal of Present Day Standards in a Psychiatric Hospital.
abstract: We report on the current experience of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a modern regional psychiatric hospital in Austria. The article describes ECT in 120 psychiatric inpatients during 1980-1987. All patients were hospitalized, the main indications for ECT being "neuroleptic treatment resistance" and "catatonia/stupor." Between 1980-1987, an average of 0.7% of admissions (0.6-2.75%) were treated with a course of 10 (62%) or 15 ECTs (25%), with 4% of patients requiring 15 ECTs or more. In more than one-half of the patients, bilateral electrode placement was used. All ECT was done under anesthesia and muscular relaxation. We find ECT to be a valuable treatment-technique for a subgroup of psychotic inpatients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry I, Landes-Nervenkrankenhaus Valduna, Rankweil, Austria.
authors.forename: P.
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: H.
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Angelberger-Spitaler
authors.forename: A.
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conca
authors.forename: G.
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hartl