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Abstract #2542

White Matter Track Integrity is Not Impaired by Electroconvulsive Therapy

Erik B. Beall1, Ken E. Sakaie1, Sarah Szymkowicz2, David J. Muzina3, Roman M. Dale2, Donald A. Malone2, Michael D. Phillips1, Mark J. Lowe1

1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States; 2Psychiatry & Psychology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States; 3Medco Neuroscience Therapeutic Resource Center, Fort Worth, TX, United States


Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and effective treatment for major depression. The consensus of past findings of white matter MRI of ECT that white matter track integrity measures are unaffected by the invasive treatment. However, none of these past studies have been performed using pre- and post-ECT imaging of the same subjects or using high-resolution whole brain fiber tracking to delineate pathways of interest. We present pre- and post-ECT white matter track integrity in ECT patients and confirm past observations that ECT has no effect on track integrity statistics in a controlled study.