MODIFICATION BY CURARE OF CIRCULATORY CHANGES DURING ELECTRICALLY INDUCED CONVULSIONS IN MAN

Abstract

THE EFFECTS of convulsions induced by electroshock on the circulation have been studied by several authors. The changes consist in elevation of venous pressure,¹ acceleration of circulation time,² a rise, followed by a fall, in arterial pressure³ and changes in cardiac rhythm indicative of vagal hyperactivity.⁴ Since curare is widely used to decrease the severity of the seizures induced in the treatment of mental disease, it was considered important to ascertain the manner in which premedication with that drug influences the circulatory changes which are the consequence of convulsant therapy. Work on arterial pressure already reported by Cleckley and associates^3b has shown that rises in blood pressure during induced convulsions are diminished when patients are curarized; accordingly, the present study has been confined to observations on the venous pressure and the electrocardiogram. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ten patients with depressions, 8 of them women, were studied.