Changes in heart rate variability of depressed patients after electroconvulsive therapy.

Conclusion. In the short term, there appear to be no significant improvement in HRV in ECT-treated patients whose depressive symptoms respond versus those who do not. Future studies will reveal whether diminished depressive symptoms with ECT are reliably associated with improved sympathetic/parasympathetic balance over the long-term, and whether acute changes in sympathetic/parasympathetic balance predict improved mental- and cardiac-related outcomes. PMID: 22966422 [PubMed]
Source: Cardiovascular Psychiatry and Neurology - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Cardiovasc Psychiatry Neurol Source Type: research