Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39804212›Full record

ReviewCurrent opinion in psychiatry2025

Electroconvulsive therapy in autism spectrum disorders: an update to the literature.

Lee Wachtel, James Luccarelli, John Michael Falligant, Joshua Ryan Smith

Abstract readReviewCase Reports
In one paragraph

Review in Current opinion in psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. [Focusing on profound autism: validity of clinical taxonomy and management of treatment-resistant symptoms].Zhongguo dang dai er ke za zhi = Chinese journal of contemporary pediatrics · 2026
    Review
  7. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Beyond the Outburst: Charting a New Frontier for Understanding and Treating Irritability in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026
    Review
  10. Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Longitudinal Symptom Burden and Pharmacologic Management of Catatonia in Autism With Intellectual Disability: An Observational Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2025
    Observational
  14. Article
  15. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lee WachtelDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
James LuccarelliDepartment of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School.
John Michael FalligantDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Joshua Ryan SmithDivision of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center at Village of Vanderbilt.

Funding

Overall: Eunice Kennedy Shriver Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at VanderbiltP50HD103537 · NICHD · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · PI Jeffrey L Neul · 2020 to 2026
$10.3M
Translational Neuroscience Training for CliniciansT32MH112485 · NIMH · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI BUCKNER, RANDY L, ROFFMAN, JOSHUA LAWRENCE · 2018 to 2022
$1.7M
NICHD NIH HHS P50 HD103537NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH112485
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purpose of reviewOver the last quarter century, the clinical evidence surrounding the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has expanded. This review provides the most up-to-date findings on the usage of ECT in ASD and discusses these results within the historical context and direct patient care experience. RECENT

findingsECT is typically implemented for psychotropic-refractory catatonic, affective, psychotic, and combined pathology for individuals across the lifespan. Although highly stigmatized, ECT is well tolerated, efficacious, and potentially lifesaving for select individuals. A case presentation of an individual with autism as well as a summary of legal restrictions hampering his ECT access is presented. SUMMARY: ECT is increasingly used in individuals with ASD who present with a wide range of ECT-responsive psychopathology, as well as repetitive self-injury and late, autistic-like regression for which no cause is found. ECT is well tolerated and offers real hope for many ASD individuals with devastating, treatment-refractory conditions.

Indexed as

Autism Spectrum DisorderElectroconvulsive TherapyHumans

Identifiers

PMID39804212
PMCPMC12136711

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.