SPECT FINDINGS BEFORE AND AFTER ECT IN A PATIENT WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION AND COTARDS-SYNDROME

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.