Journal of Electroconvulsive Therapy 2012-03-01

Continuation of ECT after recovery from transient, ECT-induced, postictal cortical blindness.

Sushma Sonavane, Vivek Bambole, Abha Bang, Nilesh Shah, Chittaranjan Andrade

Index: J. ECT 28(1) , 48-9, (2012)

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Abstract

Transient, postictal cortical blindness is a rare adverse effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). There is no information on the safety of continuation of ECT in patients who recover from ECT-induced cortical blindness.An 18-year-old woman with paranoid schizophrenia experienced cortical blindness immediately after her first bifrontotemporal ECT treatment. There was complete, spontaneous recovery of vision after 6 hours. Neurological examination, computed tomography of the brain, and electroencephalographic study revealed no abnormality. A combination of circumstances suggested that continuation of ECT was desirable. After clearances from neurological and ophthalmological teams, she received 6 more ECT treatments, starting 9 days after the first.After resumption of ECT, there was marked improvement in psychopathology across the ECT course. There was no recurrence of visual symptoms.Patients who experience transient, ECT-induced, postictal cortical blindness may not necessarily experience the same adverse effect on rechallenge with ECT.