title: Anterograde Amnesia during Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Prospective Pilot-Study in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder.
abstract: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered an effective treatment for major depression with melancholic features. However, neurocognitive side-effects such as anterograde amnesia still regularly occur. The present study aims to evaluate the severity and course of anterograde amnesia in severely depressed patients undergoing ECT. In a prospective naturalistic study, anterograde memory function was assessed among inpatients who underwent ECT (n = 11). Subjects met DSM-IV criteria for major depressive disorder. Recruitment took place between March 2010-March 2011 and March 2012-March 2013. Controls treated with antidepressants (n = 9) were matched for age, gender and depression severity. Primary outcome measure was immediate recall; secondary outcome measures were delayed recall, recognition, and visual association. Differences were tested using repeated measures ANOVA and paired t-tests. Correlations with hypothesized covariates were calculated. In patients with major depressive disorder, ECT had a significant effect on delayed memory function (p<0.01 with large effect sizes). Findings on immediate recall were less consistent. Four weeks after treatment discontinuation, these memory functions had recovered. Age was identified as a very important covariate. The main limitations of our study are its naturalistic design, possibly compromising internal validity, and its small sample size. However, if these findings can be reproduced in a more comprehensive study group, then the possible induction of anterograde amnesia is not a justifiable reason for clinicians to disregard ECT as a treatment option.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Elvira
authors: E
authors: Boere
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Astrid M
authors: AM
authors: Kamperman
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Arianne E
authors: AE
authors: van 't Hoog
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Walter W
authors: WW
authors: van den Broek
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Tom K
authors: TK
authors: Birkenhäger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D020324:Amnesia, Anterograde / Q000209:etiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies