Electroconvulsive therapy for epilepsy and major depression.

In this first report of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the simultaneous treatment of seizures and depressive episodes, the authors discuss the use of ECT in the treatment of complex-partial seizures and major depression in a geriatric patients who refused antidepressant and antiepileptic medication. ECT has numerous anticonvulsant effects, including elevated seizure threshold and decreased seizure duration, which make it a useful adjunctive therapy in epilepsy that is refractory or not amenable to treatment with medication.