Mechanisms Underlying Pulmonary and Cardiac Complications of Electrically Induced Convulsions

THE changes in pulmonary function observed during electrically induced convulsions account for the development of atelectasis and, more rarely, lung abscess in patients receiving electroshock therapy. A convulsion induced by electric shock is ushered in by maximal forced expiration, which is then maintained throughout the seizure.1 2 3 Roentgenograms made at the height of the tonic phase of such seizures uniformly show an extreme degree of elevation of the diaphragm, together with some narrowing of the intercostal spaces; marked compression of the lung results (Fig. 1). With the end of the convulsion the patient relaxes, and the lungs re-expand to approximately their . . .