POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY AND PLASMA BIOCHEMISTRY FINDINGS IN SCHIZOPHRENIC-PATIENTS BEFORE AND AFTER ELECTROCONVULSIVE-THERAPY

The clinical effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on the morbidi ty of paranoid schizophrenic patients were assessed by positron emissi on tomography (PET) and plasma biochemistry studies before and after E CT. The present study included five patients whose average age was 41. 4 years. The average duration of illness was 23.0 years. To avoid any effect of changes in drugs on PET, no changes were made in the medicat ion of any of the five patients during the study period. ECT improved the clinical symptoms in every patient. Regional cerebral blood flow ( rCBF) on PET in both temporal lobes and the left cerebellum was higher in paranoid schizophrenia before ECT than in normal subjects, and rCB F after ECT in both frontal lobes, the right temporal lobe and the rig ht putamen was lower than before ECT as mental symptoms improved. Thes e findings suggest high cerebral blood flow volume in paranoid schizop hrenia. Plasma biochemistry studies revealed a lower level of 3-methox y-4-hydroxyphenyl- glycol (MHPG) after ECT than before ECT, but a high er level of prolactin existed.