Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) has been used to treat severe depression for many years. It is highly effective and can be lifesaving. However, it can cause temporary mild cognitive changes after the procedure.
There is a new method of giving seizure treatment for depression that uses a magnet instead of pulses of electricity. It is similar to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which treats depression but without causing a seizure. It is not as effective as ECT, but it does not require anesthesia and is routinely performed on outpatients.
The new treatment uses equipment similar to TMS but the dosing causes a seizure so anesthesia is needed. It works just as well as ECT but the temporary cognitive changes are more mild and return to normal cognition is much faster.
These results were reported in a research article published by Deng and colleagues in JAMA Psychiatry on Dec. 6, 2023.
ECT does get the patient to remission (full resolution of depressive symptoms) a bit faster than Magnetic Seizure Therapy. However, the end result is the same.
We now have a another treatment for severe depression, which is as effective as ECT but a more rapid resolution of temporary cognitive changes.
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
