The American journal of psychiatry
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Two patients with severe Parkinson's disease were treated with electroconvulsive therapy for a supervening depression. Not only did the symptoms of depression clear up after only four treatments, but the parkinsonian signs also showed striking and sustained improvement. ⋯ Parkinsonism does not appear to be a contraindication to ECT. On the contrary, ECT may be the treatment of choice for certain patients with Parkinson's disease, whether nor not it is complicated by intractable depression.