CAFFEINE PRETREATMENT ENHANCES CLINICAL EFFICACY AND REDUCES COGNITIVE EFFECTS OF ELECTROCONVULSIVE-THERAPY

In an open clinical trial, depressed patients received age-dosed, brie f-pulse electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) either with or without 500 mg i.v. caffeine sodium benzoate before each treatment. Caffeine-pretreat ed patients required fewer ECT treatments, and after three to four tre atments, their Hamilton Depression Scale (HDS) scores were significant ly lower. At the end of the ECT course, both groups reached the same r eduction in HDS scores. Of five memory tests, one showed better perfor mance at the end of the ECT course for the caffeine-pretreated compare d with the non-caffeine-pretreated patients. The results argue that ca ffeine-modified ECT differs from unmodified ECT in speed of response a nd the effects on cognitive tests.