G. Petracca et al., SPECT FINDINGS BEFORE AND AFTER ECT IN A PATIENT WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION AND COTARDS-SYNDROME, The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 7(4), 1995, pp. 505-507
A patient's major depression and Cotard's syndrome (the delusion of be
ing dead) both resolved completely after 12 ECT treatments. A SPECT st
udy I week before ECT showed reduced blood flow in the frontoparietal
medial and dorsolateral frontal cortex, basal ganglia, and thalamus; S
PECT 1 month after ECT showed perfusion increments in those regions. T
his case study demonstrates that Cotard's syndrome in the context of m
ajor depression may be successfully treated with ECT and suggests that
the psychiatric improvement was accompanied by increased bloodflow in
specific brain areas.