Relationship between body mass index and blood pressure elevation during electroconvulsive therapy

Abstract Study Objective To evaluate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure (BP) elevation during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Design Descriptive epidemiological study. Setting Operating room of a university-affiliated hospital. Patients All patients who received ECT at the Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo Hospital from May 2005 to March 2009. Interventions All patients received routine ECT treatment. Measurements Systolic BP (SBP) elevation during ECT, BMI, baseline SBP, age, electroencephalographic seizure duration, ECT stimulating dose, diagnosis, and gender were all recorded. Main Results Patients with higher BMI tended to have greater SBP elevation after ECT. There was no correlation between elevated SBP and other factors. The degree of elevation of SBP after ECT was linearly related to BMI. Conclusion BMI correlates with BP elevation during ECT.