[Electroconvulsive therapy: indications and improvement].

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is considered today as an affective and safe treatment, although some indications for its use are based more in the professional consensus than in the clinical research. As with any treatment, both therapeutic outcome and adverse effects can be expected to vary considerably across patients. It is incumbent upon the practitioner to be aware of factors that serve to influence the benefits and risks associated with this treatment modality. The author reviews current indications, and those factors that may be useful in response prediction, as well as, technical modifications of the ECT procedure itself.