Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy on Thyroid Function Parameters in Depressed Patients

A considerable portion of patients with depressive disorders do not respond properly to medical treatment and need Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). On the other hand, as some beneficial effects of ECT are attributed to increase in thyroid hormones, levothyronin is used as an adjuvant prior to ECT. The aim of this study was to evaluate thyroid function changes after ECT.

This was an out come study done on depressed patients attending the psychiatric clinic who were resistant to medical therapy and therefore candidates for ECT. Blood samples were drawn before the first and the last ECT and serum levels of T3, T4, T3RU and TSH were measured.

Thirty-one patients (19 males and 12 females) were enrolled the study. Serum levels of T3 and T3RU significantly increased by ECT (p-values of 0.0001 and 0.029, respectively). T3 increased in all 31 patients and this was true for both genders and all age groups and also for various durations of depression, but T4 and TSH levels decreased significantly (p-values of 0.025 and 0.0001, respectively).

Our findings showed that some effects of ECT may be primarily due to increased T3 levels and other parameters change accordingly. These findings need to be confirmed by further studies.