Objectives:
A long-term
follow-up of depressed patients responsive to
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with intensive pre-ECT pharmacotherapy treatment failure who also participated in a 6-month trial directly post-ECT in which imipramine was compared with placebo for
relapse prevention.
Methods:
A total of 26 patients responsive to ECT who participated in the 6-month continuation trial were invited 4 to 8 years later to assess their
follow-up status. The groups with and without
relapse within 6 months were compared with regard to
recurrence of
depression up to 8 years later.
Recurrence was defined as a new episode of
depression that needed antidepressant medication and/or readmission in hospital and/or a new ECT course.
Results:
At the time of
follow-up (mean duration, 6.8 years), the
recurrence rate of
depression for the total sample was 42.3%. There was no significant difference in the
recurrence rates and number of recurrences between the nonrelapse and
relapse groups.
The small study population limits generalization of the results; the design of the study is naturalistic and retrospective.
Conclusion:
In our small sample of depressed patients with pharmacotherapy treatment failure,
recurrence is not influenced by
relapse after terminating ECT. Continuation of medication started immediately after ECT seems to be an important factor in preventing
recurrence.
