Electroconvulsive therapy for treatment of intractable seizures. Initial findings in two children.

We treated two children with intractable epilepsy with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for seizure control. One child showed a change in seizure pattern with treatment, which at greater intensity was also effective in stopping nonconvulsive status epilepticus. The other child showed a decrease in spontaneous seizure frequency during short-term treatment. These findings suggest a possible role for ECT in the management of intractable epilepsy in children who are not candidates for epileptic surgery.