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Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature

AIMS AND METHOD: The psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's disease are myriad and difficult to control. The use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is not commonly considered for this condition. We describe a patient with severe depression, psychomotor retardation, delusions and weight loss...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mowafi, Walied, Millard, Jon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8111993/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32513333
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2020.51
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author Mowafi, Walied
Millard, Jon
author_facet Mowafi, Walied
Millard, Jon
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description AIMS AND METHOD: The psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's disease are myriad and difficult to control. The use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is not commonly considered for this condition. We describe a patient with severe depression, psychomotor retardation, delusions and weight loss who responded to ECT with good control of her symptoms. RESULTS: Both our case and the literature appear to confirm the efficacy of ECT in the treatment of depression in Huntington's disease and suggest that other psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's are also responsive. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: ECT is an effective and safe treatment that should be considered earlier in the course of the disease in cases that show limited response to pharmacological therapy. It should also be considered as an adjunct to medical therapy that may simplify polypharmacy and allow better control in patients with debilitating psychiatric manifestations of the disease. There is limited and conflicting evidence for its efficacy in chorea.
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spelling pubmed-81119932021-05-17 Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature Mowafi, Walied Millard, Jon BJPsych Bull Special Article AIMS AND METHOD: The psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's disease are myriad and difficult to control. The use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is not commonly considered for this condition. We describe a patient with severe depression, psychomotor retardation, delusions and weight loss who responded to ECT with good control of her symptoms. RESULTS: Both our case and the literature appear to confirm the efficacy of ECT in the treatment of depression in Huntington's disease and suggest that other psychiatric manifestations of Huntington's are also responsive. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: ECT is an effective and safe treatment that should be considered earlier in the course of the disease in cases that show limited response to pharmacological therapy. It should also be considered as an adjunct to medical therapy that may simplify polypharmacy and allow better control in patients with debilitating psychiatric manifestations of the disease. There is limited and conflicting evidence for its efficacy in chorea. Cambridge University Press 2021-04 /pmc/articles/PMC8111993/ /pubmed/32513333 http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2020.51 Text en © The Authors 2020 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
spellingShingle Special Article
Mowafi, Walied
Millard, Jon
Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
title Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
title_full Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
title_fullStr Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
title_full_unstemmed Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
title_short Electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with Huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
title_sort electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression, psychosis and chorea in a patient with huntington's disease: case report and review of the literature
topic Special Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8111993/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32513333
http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjb.2020.51
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