N-methyl-D-aspartate Antagonist (Ketamine) Augmentation of Electroconvulsive Treatment for Severe Major Depression

Study Summary

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is considered the most effective treatment for severe treatment resistant major depressive disorder (MDD), but it requires about 3 weeks of treatments and can cause considerable acute deficits in memory. It would be a major advance in treatment if ECT could work faster with fewer treatments and result in decrease incidence of memory problems. Ketamine is an excellent candidate for augmentation of ECT because of its acute effects on depression, its short half-life, and its safety profile when given at low doses. Ketamine is given as an infusion and could easily be incorporated into the routine management of patients undergoing ECT, but has never been evaluated prospectively in this context. The investigators propose to assess the efficacy, feasibility, tolerability and safety of N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist augmentation of ECT using ketamine.

Primary Outcome

HAMD will be administered at every ECT treatment.The HAM D 28 is a 28 item scale with scores ranging from 0 to 83, with 0 being no depression and 83 being high levels of depression symptoms. The change in HAM S score was determined by the difference of the HAM D score at the last ECT administration and the baseline HAM D score. A negative change score reflects a decreased HAM D score between the first and last ECT administration and therefore a reduction in depressive symptoms.

Interventions

• DRUG ketamine
• PROCEDURE ECT
• OTHER IV Saline
• DRUG Muscle Relaxant
• DRUG Anesthetic Agents