CHEMICALLY INDUCED THERAPEUTIC SEIZURES AS PREDECESSORS TO THE MODERN ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (FOR THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY): SCIENTIFIC REVIEW

Purpose: To present the reader with thorough historical overview of chemically induced (by the use of camphor, cardiazole or triazole) seizures as predecessors of modern electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the history of the discovery of this method, the mechanisms of its therapeutic effect, its comparative efficacy and safety in comparison with ECT, the cause of its dismissal in the favor of ECT, and remind the reader of the uniquely high effectiveness of ECT in the treatment of depression and catatonia, unsurpassed until now.Methodology: We have performed a thorough search for historical literature on the therapeutic use of chemically induced seizures with the use of PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct and Web of Science, as well as bibliographic lists in Wikipedia articles and monographs on ECT. The sources we found were processed, summarized and presented in this review.Results: The literature data obtained as a result of the present review show that chemically induced seizures did indeed have a curative effect in a number of mental disorders (in particular, depression, mania and mixed states, schizophrenia, catatonia), with the efficacy and safety comparable to the unmodified ECT, together with lower potential for causing cognitive impairment. Chemically induced seizures not only served as a predecessor to the invention of ECT, but also allowed to eliminate the therapeutic nihilism that existed before the beginning of the 20th century with regard to the possibilities of treating mental illnesses, which created the prerequisites for the further development of research in this field and for the subsequent emergence of psychopharmacotherapy. Moreover, the very idea of chemical induction of therapeutic seizures with the use of safer agents and in a modified form (with premedication, general anesthesia, muscle relaxants and artificial ventilation of the lungs) retains its attractiveness even today.Scope: The results of our review indicate the high therapeutic potential of modern modified ECT, as the modern successor of the camphor and cardiazole / triazole convulsive therapy, in the treatment of severe and resistant forms of mental illness, and that modern modified ECT deserves a much wider application in psychiatry.