How safe is it for people suffering from Heart Disease ?
Good question ! Complications like for instance acute myocardial infarction and conduction disturbances are responsible for most of the mortality asociated with anaesthesia and said to be for the treatment method,although none of these were reported in the Scandenavian survey cited above.Caution is required in patients with heart problems and the uderlying condition should be treated effectively beforehand however the decission to administer ECT will then be, as always, a matter of informed consent by the patient with due consideration of the risks of giving or not giv-ing ECT, bearing in mind that 10-15% of untreated or medicine nonresponsive severe depressed people commit suicide.
