Short-term effects of electroconvulsive treatment on the uptake of 99mTc-Exametazine into brain in major depression shown with single photon emission tomography

Citation

Scott AIF, Dougall N, Ross M, O'Carroll R, Riddle WJ, Ebmeier KP & Goodwin GM (1994) Short-term effects of electroconvulsive treatment on the uptake of 99mTc-Exametazine into brain in major depression shown with single photon emission tomography. Journal of Affective Disorders, 30 (1), pp. 27-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-0327%2894%2990148-1

Abstract
Fifteen patients with major depression who were being treated with bilateral electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) were investigated before and 45 min after a single ECT using split-dose Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPET or SPECT) with 99mTc-Exametazime. All patients suffered from unipolar depressive illness and were rated on the Newcastle scale and with the 17-item Hamilton scale. They completed tests of orientation and verbal memory on the day of ECT. For comparison, verbal memory was also tested on the preceding day. The uptake of 99mTc-Exametazime was expressed relative to calcarine/occipital cortex. Significant decreases in tracer uptake were confined to the inferior anterior cingulate cortex. The changes were correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms and more weakly with decrements of memory function produced by ECT; there was no significant correlation with stimulus intensity or electroencephalographic measures of seizure duration.

Keywords
Electroconvulsive therapy; Electroconvulsive shock; Unipolar depressive illness; SPECT; Exametazime; Cingulate cortex

Journal
Journal of Affective Disorders: Volume 30, Issue 1