Recidivfrekvensen ved NCE-behandling

In the rather extensive litterature concerning electroconvulsive therapy, ECT, little attention has been paid to relapse problems. Therefore a case-referent study was done at Frederiksberg Hospital. All patients receiving ECT in 1982 were retrospectively followed for 6 months after treatment. The therapy was found effective in all 38 patients with major affective disorders but insignificant in other cases. An overall relapse rate of 45% was found. In contrast to other reports no significant effect of pharmacological continuation therapy could be demonstrated in this study. It is to be concluded that ECT is effective in producing a full remission of acute psychopathology in patients with major depressive disorder but a relapse rate of 45% after ECT is unacceptably high. To improve this, further prospective studies are needed which should include biological markers in order to analyse the pathophysiology of the disorders and to monitor the therapeutic effect of ECT and the follow-up treatment.