Abstract
BACKGROUND
Untreated catatonia is associated with serious medical complications that can necessitate urgent medical attention1,2. Lorazepam and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are effective for catatonia across various psychiatric or medical diagnoses1,3. In rare cases, ECT fails to achieve full response in catatonic symptoms, particularly in patients with chronic catatonia or primary psychotic disorder4,5. Evidence on treating catatonia that does not respond to ECT is lacking.
OBJECTIVES
Conduct a literature review on treatment of ECT-resistant catatonia which is defined as reported lack of full response to ECT treatments. We present a case of a 52-year-old male with schizophrenia where catatonia did not respond to lorazepam and robust ECT but resolved after memantine titration.
METHODS
A literature review was performed using Medline/PubMed with the following keywords: treatment-resistant, catatonia, electroconvulsive therapy. References in eligible articles and most recent systematic reviews on catatonia treatment were reviewed.
RESULTS
Seventeen patients in twelve case reports were identified where the treatment of catatonia was described after failed ECT trials. Most had chronic catatonia and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. ECT parameters and ictal outcome measures were not consistently reported. Treatment modalities for ECT-resistant catatonia included amantadine, memantine, lorazepam augmentation to ECT, antiepileptic and antipsychotic medications such as aripiprazole and clozapine.
CONCLUSIONS
The literature review and new case suggest reconsideration of catatonia diagnosis, optimizing ECT treatments, cautious use of antipsychotics, consideration of lorazepam augmentation to ECT treatments and/or use of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists.
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