Absence of cognitive impairment at long-term follow-up in adolescents treated with ECT for severe mood disorder

Objective: Cognitive functions of adolescents treated with ECT for mood dis order were evaluated at long-term follow-up. Method: At an average of 3.5 y ears (SD = 1.7) after the last ECT, 10 subjects treated during adolescence with bilateral ECT for severe mood disorder completed a clinical and cognit ive evaluation, including the California Verbal Learning Test and Squire's Subjective Memory Questionnaire. The same assessments were given to 10 psyc hiatric comparison subjects matched for sex, age, and diagnosis. Results: A ll cognitive test scores of the patients treated with ECT were similar to t hose of the comparison subjects and did not differ from norms from the comm unity. Six of the 10 ECT-treated patients reported having had memory losses immediately after the ECT course, but only one complained of subjective me mory impairment at follow-up. Conclusions: The results suggest that adolesc ents given ECT for severe mood disorder do not suffer measurable cognitive impairment at long-term follow-up.