The British Journal of Psychiatry 144: 525-528 (1984)
© 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Brain-type creatine phosphokinase serum levels before and after ECT
MG Webb, MP O'Donnell, RJ Draper, B Horner and JP Phillips
Brain-type creatine phosphokinase isoenzyme (CPK BB) was measured by
radioimmunoassay in the serum of 31 depressed patients undergoing bilateral
ECT. Samples were taken shortly before and at one hour, two hours, and six
hours following ECT. ECT did not cause a significant alteration in serum
CPK BB concentration during the six hours following the treatment.
Similarly, there was no difference in mean pre-ECT concentration of serum
CPK BB between patients receiving the first ECT of their current admission
and those receiving subsequent treatments. These findings do not support
suggestions that ECT causes alteration in permeability of the blood-brain
barrier, nor that it causes detectable brain injury.