TY - JOUR
T1 - Synergism of lorazepam and electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of catatonia
AU - Petrides, Georgios
AU - Divadeenam, Krishna M.
AU - Bush, George
AU - Francis, Andrew
PY - 1997/9/1
Y1 - 1997/9/1
N2 - Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and lorazepam are effective treatments for catatonia. ECT combined with benzodiazepines has been associated with reduced efficacy and efficiency and therefore is not recommended in the routine practice of ECT. We report 5 prospectively identified cases of catatonia treated either sequentially or concurrently with lorazepam and ECT. In each case, the combination of lorazepam with ECT was superior to monotherapy. This apparent synergism, its possible mechanisms, and its implications for treating catatonia are discussed.
AB - Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and lorazepam are effective treatments for catatonia. ECT combined with benzodiazepines has been associated with reduced efficacy and efficiency and therefore is not recommended in the routine practice of ECT. We report 5 prospectively identified cases of catatonia treated either sequentially or concurrently with lorazepam and ECT. In each case, the combination of lorazepam with ECT was superior to monotherapy. This apparent synergism, its possible mechanisms, and its implications for treating catatonia are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00378-2
DO - 10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00378-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 9276078
AN - SCOPUS:0030800760
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 42
SP - 375
EP - 381
JO - Biological Psychiatry
JF - Biological Psychiatry
IS - 5
ER -