An analysis of reported deaths following electroconvulsive therapy in Texas, 1993-1998

Since 1993, Texas law has required that all deaths that occur within 14 day s of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) be reported to the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. This study attempted to differentiat e deaths that may have been due to ECT or the associated anesthesia from th ose due to other causes. Among more than 8,000 patients who received 49,048 ECT treatments between 1993 and 1998, a total of 30 deaths were reported t o the mental health department between 1993 and 1998. Only one death, which occurred on the same day as the ECT, could be specifically linked to the a ssociated anesthesia. An additional four deaths could plausibly have been a ssociated with the anesthesia, for which the calculated mortality rate is b etween two and ten per 100,000, but probably not with the stimulus of the E CT or seizure. The mortality rate associated with ECT (less than two per 10 0,000 treatments) in Texas is extremely low.