Elektroconvulsietherapie bij patiënten met de ziekte van Huntington en depressie

- Two patients, a 50-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman, with genetically confirmed Huntington’s disease (HD) were admitted to a psychiatric department because of therapy-resistant major depression. Both patients were successfully treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). The lifetime prevalence of depression in HD patients is high and, together with movement and cognitive disturbances, causes a heavy disease burden for patients and their families. ECT is an effective and relatively fast antidepressive treatment. Although ECT use has been reported in only 11 depressive HD patients in the literature, in our opinion it is an adequate antidepressive treatment that should be considered before further drug treatment for patients who are substantially limited in their daily functioning.

Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2005;149:2141-4