Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical effects of frontoparietal electrode placement, an alternative montage for right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), with the commonly used temporoparietal montage.
Methods: In a single patient who received alternate treatments with the abovementioned right unilateral montages, within a treatment course of ECT, time-to-reorientation after each treatment and seizure expression were compared. Computer modeling was used to simulate and compare differences in electrical stimulation patterns in key cerebral regions, with the 2 montages. These simulations were done in an anatomically realistic head model recreated from magnetic resonance imaging scans of the patient's head.
Results: Time-to-reorientation was shorter after treatment with frontoparietal ECT (mean, 28.3 minutes; SD, 2.9 minutes) than after temporoparietal ECT (mean, 50.0 minutes; SD, 11.5 minutes), suggesting less retrograde memory impairment. Seizure duration and expression were similar for the 2 montages. Computer modeling demonstrated less hippocampal and right inferior frontal cortical stimulation but comparable anterior cingulate cortex stimulation with the frontoparietal montage.
Conclusions: These results, although preliminary, suggest that the frontoparietal montage may result in less memory side effects, but comparable efficacy, to the temporoparietal montage.