Electroconvulsive therapy for obsessive compulsive symptoms in a patient with schizophrenia: a brief report

ABSTRACT

Comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is common among patients with schizophrenia. The role of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of OCD in schizophrenia is unclear. Herein, we present a 45-year-old man who was diagnosed with schizophrenia along with OCD and received ECT due to relapse of psychosis owing to refractive schizophrenia. Together with psychotic symptoms, obvious symptoms of OCD were observed prior to treatment, including obsessive thoughts, difficulty in starting activities, and repetitive and ritualistic behavior. After 12 sessions of ECT, symptoms of schizophrenia and OCD both improved significantly (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS] score decreased from 95 points to 58 points, and Yale – Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale [Y-BOCS] score decreased from 29 points to 11 points). Mild aggravation of OCD symptoms was noted 3 months after ECT treatment (Y-BOCS score increased from 11 points to 17 points) without obvious relapse of psychotic symptoms (PANSS score changed from 58 points to 62 points). In conclusion, ECT could be considered as an alternative therapy for patients with schizophrenia and OCD with limited response to pharmacological treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• Schizophrenia
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• electroconvulsive therapy
• treatment resistance
• brain stimulation

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for editing this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary information files.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.