title: Electroconvulsive therapy-induced symptomatic hypocalcemia in a schizophrenic patient: a case report.
abstract: We present a case study of a young schizophrenic 20-year-old female patient, admitted for severe psychotic exacerbation unresponsive to several antipsychotic regimens. She was treated successfully with a course of bilateral electroconvulsive therapy, but developed symptomatic hypocalcemia of short duration after the fifth ECT treatment. There is limited information regarding the phenomenon of ECT-induced acute hypocalcemia. To the best of our knowledge, there are no previous reports of this finding in the literature. A similar phenomenon was reported many years ago in patients with primary affective illness. The possible mechanisms of this potentially life-threatening reaction are not clear and should be evaluated in further studies.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health, Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheva, Israel. nemets@bezeqint.net
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nemets
authors.forename: Tzvi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dwolatzky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000209:etiology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents