Wang J, Li J, Wei YG, Lu XX, Zhang ZH. Efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in treating auditory verbal hallucinations in a deaf patient with schizophrenia: A case report. World J Psychiatry 2025; 15(6): 105934 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i6.105934]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Juan Wang, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Psychiatry, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, No. 207 Qianjin Road, Muye District, Xinxiang 453002, Henan Province, China. wangjuanxy@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2025; 15(6): 105934 Published online Jun 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i6.105934
Efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in treating auditory verbal hallucinations in a deaf patient with schizophrenia: A case report
Juan Wang, Juan Li, Yan-Ge Wei, Xin-Xin Lu, Zhao-Hui Zhang
Juan Wang, Juan Li, Yan-Ge Wei, Xin-Xin Lu, Department of Psychiatry, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453002, Henan Province, China
Zhao-Hui Zhang, Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang 453100, Henan Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Juan Wang and Zhao-Hui Zhang.
Author contributions: Wang J participated in the design and coordination of this case report, was involved in data collection, and drafted the manuscript; Li J and Lu XX communicated with the patient; Wei YG conceptualized this case report and its design; Zhang ZH participated in the revision and finalization of the manuscript; Wang J and Zhang ZH contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Doctoral Startup Fund of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University.
Informed consent statement: The patient and her guardian provided written informed consent for publication of this case report.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Juan Wang, MD, Associate Chief Physician, Department of Psychiatry, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical University, No. 207 Qianjin Road, Muye District, Xinxiang 453002, Henan Province, China. wangjuanxy@126.com
Received: February 11, 2025 Revised: April 9, 2025 Accepted: May 7, 2025 Published online: June 19, 2025 Processing time: 107 Days and 19.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are believed to be characteristic symptoms of schizophrenia. The prevalence of AVHs in deaf patients with schizophrenia is comparable to that in patients with schizophrenia who have normal hearing ability. AVHs in deaf patients with schizophrenia require treatment.
CASE SUMMARY
A 22-year-old deaf woman with schizophrenia had experienced AVHs for 3 months. Her psychotic symptoms were not alleviated by antipsychotic medication alone. Modified electroconvulsive therapy in combination with antipsychotic drugs effectively alleviated her AVHs and disorganized behavior. During outpatient follow-up for 6 months, her condition have remained stable, and she has been able to take care of herself.
CONCLUSION
Treatment with modified electroconvulsive therapy was found to be safe and might be indicated for deaf patients whose symptoms are not well managed with antipsychotic medication alone. Deaf people might be unable to communicate through spoken language; therefore, to make proper diagnoses and provide appropriate treatment for these patients, psychiatrists must have patience and seek to understand patients’ mental state.
Core Tip: Antipsychotics alone have poor efficacy in treating patients with deafness experiencing auditory verbal hallucinations. Our patient’s psychotic symptoms were controlled with antipsychotic drugs combined with electroconvulsive therapy treatment. Antipsychotic drugs plus modified electroconvulsive therapy might therefore be safe for the treatment of deaf patients with auditory verbal hallucinations. During outpatient follow-up for 6 months, her condition have remained stable, and she has been able to take care of herself.
