Acute and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy for treatment of severely disabling obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a patient with Asperger syndrome.

We report successful treatment with electroconvulsive therapy of a comorbid condition including severe obsessive-compulsive symptoms and hypochondriacal delusions in a 38-year-old man with Asperger syndrome. His condition deteriorated into a severely disabled chronic state that was refractory to different pharmacological and psychological treatments but was completely reversed after electroconvulsive therapy. Although typical obsessive-compulsive symptoms were predominant, the case also exhibits differences compared with regular obsessive-compulsive disorder regarding onset and course that are discussed in the report.