EVALUATION OF RESPONSE TO ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT) IN PATIENTS WITH SEVERE AND REFRACTORY BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER

Background: There are numerous reports regarding the effectiveness of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in borderline personality disorder. Their results are inconsistent and further investigation is needed. In this study, the effect of ECT was assessed in a series of patients which had not responded to the conventional treatment.

Materials and Methods: This is a case series report of 5 patients. They suffered from refractory borderline personality disorder and had been referred to principal investigator. They were all males with age between 22-24 years old. Treatment consisted of 16-24 bilateral ECT sessions under controlled, during a period of 6 months. All signs and symptoms were recorded according to DSM-IV-TR behavioral frequency checklist. Recordings at the beginning and at the ending of treatment were compared.

Results: The results show that there is a significant global improvement in all sectors. All patients showed some degree of improvement although the amount of response was different between subjects.

Conclusion: ECT in sufficient sessions can be regarded as a means of treating refractory borderline personality disorder. However, the small number of patients and the lacking of control group calls for more works.