title: Practice of Acute and Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Psychiatric Clinic of a University Hospital from Turkey: between 2007 and 2013.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be given as the form of acute, continuation or maintenance ECT according to the process of administration. We report our 7 years' observation with acute and maintenance ECT in a university hospital in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  The medical records of the hospitalized patients treated with acute or maintenance ECT between the years 2007 and 2013 was retrospectively analyzed. The sociodemographic characteristics, diagnosis, data of ECT and the co-administered psychotropic drugs were recorded. The frequency of ECT was calculated by identifying the total number of the hospitalized patients during the study period from the hospital records.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total number of 1,432 female and 1,141 male patients hospitalized in a period of 7 years, with a total number of 111 patients treated with ECT. The ratio of ECT was 4%, maintenance/acute ECT 11%. For acute ECT, affective disorders (65.3%) and psychotic disorders (21.6%) were among the leading diagnoses. Maintenance ECT, the diagnosis was; 6 affective disorders, 4 psychotic disorders and 1 obsessive compulsive disorder. There was a significant difference between the patients receiving acute and maintenance ECT in terms of age, duration of illness, and number of previous hospitalizations and ECTs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The percentage of patients treated with acute ECT is lower in our institution than that in many other institutions from our country. Acute and maintenance ECT should be considered as an important treatment option particularly for patients with long disease duration, a high number of hospitalizations and a history of benefiting from previous ECTs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Melike Ceyhan Balci
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sengul
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse Nur Inci
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Kenar
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ezgi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hanci
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: İbrahim
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Sendur
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sengul
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Herken
keywords: Electroconvulsive therapy; Electroconvulsive therapy indications; Maintenance electroconvulsive therapy