Electroconvulsive therapy for a schizophrenic patient in catatonic stupor with joint contracture.

The successful use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for a patient in catatonic stupor with joint contracture is reported. A 53-year-old woman, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, developed a catatonic stupor unresponsive to neuroleptics. Physical emaciation gradually developed under food refusal and poor nutrition. Joint contracture of her extremities resulted from the long period of being bedridden in the same posture. In this case, modified ECT was dramatically effective for catatonic stupor without any complication despite the joint contracture.