Safe ECT in a patient with the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

The Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is an inheritable disorder caused by genetic defects of collagen. Hyperextensibility and fragility of the skin, joint hyperlaxity, and generalized fragility of the connective tissues, involving the hollow organs and arteries, are the cardinal features of this syndrome. Low bone density has also been reported. Theoretically, these patients can have an increased risk of rupture of blood vessels and of bone fractures. A patient with a schizo-affective disorder and Ehlers-Danlos Type I who received bifrontal ECT for a depressive episode is described. Even without specific measures to lower blood pressure, a course of ECT was finished without any complication.