SPECT findings before and after ECT in a patient with major depression and Cotard's syndrome



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	PubMed Citation
	Articles by Petracca, G.
	Articles by Starkstein, S. E.

J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1995; 7:505-507
Copyright © 1995 by American Neuropsychiatric Association

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SPECT findings before and after ECT in a patient with major depression and Cotard's syndrome

G Petracca, R Migliorelli, S Vazquez and SE Starkstein
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Raul Carrea Institute of Neurological Research, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A patient's major depression and Cotard's syndrome (the delusion of being dead) both resolved completely after 12 ECT treatments. A SPECT study 1 week before ECT showed reduced blood flow in the frontoparietal medial and dorsolateral frontal cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus; SPECT 1 month after ECT showed perfusion increments in those regions. This case study demonstrates that Cotard's syndrome in the context of major depression may be successfully treated with ECT and suggests that the psychiatric improvement was accompanied by increased blood flow in specific brain areas.

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