This study evaluated the effects of unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (UECT) on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) following experimentally induced stroke in rabbits. Five rabbits underwent right internal carotid artery ligation to induce stroke and were imaged with SPECT scans before and after being randomized to either receive UECT or act as controls. The three rabbits that received UECT showed improvement in rCBF in the affected region on the second SPECT scan, while the two control rabbits showed no improvement, indicating UECT may decrease infarct size following stroke. However, the study was limited by its small sample size.

1. Unilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy in Rabbit Stroke Model: Evaluation Using SPECT Deepak Agrawal, NK Gowda*, R Sagar**, PK Yadav***, Departments of Neurosurgery, Nuclear medicine*, Psychiatry** & Experimental Animal Facility*** All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India-110029

19. STUDY DESIGN 5 RABBITS Rt ICA LIGATION SPECT Brain (50 min after stoke) Randomised to UECT Gp (n=3) Randomised to Control Gp (n=2) Rt Sided UECT No ECT REPEAT SPECT (120 min after stroke) ANIMAL SACRIFIED

23. UECT GROUP PRE-UECT POST-UECT

28. Thank You