The RAFT ECT Study
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT05402657. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
The Randomised Controlled Trial of Frontoparietal and Temporoparietal Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) for Severe Depression: The RAFT ECT Study
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Severe depression is devastating for those affected and is often associated with significant risk of suicide. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective acute treatment for severe depression, but its use and acceptability are limited by cognitive side effects. Of these, retrograde memory loss is most concerning, and can be long-term. The introduction of ultrabrief right unilateral (UBRUL) ECT into clinical practice has been an important step in reducing the risk of memory impairment, but significant deficits still occur. A new form of UBRUL ECT which utilises a Frontoparietal electrode placement represents a further development. Preliminary data suggest that Frontoparietal UBRUL has good efficacy and less cognitive side effects than UBRUL given using the conventional Temporoparietal electrode placement. Designed as a pivotal trial, this protocol will be the first RCT comparing these two forms of ECT, producing the rigorous efficacy and safety data required to change clinical practice/policy. This is a multicentre, parallel group RCT with 1:1 allocation ratio between Frontoparietal (intervention) and Temporoparietal (comparator) forms of UBRUL ECT. Participation will involve receiving randomised acute ECT under blinded conditions during the randomised acute treatment period (typically around 4 weeks), then completion of a 24-week follow-up period which commences after the cessation of all acute ECT. The study protocol aims to provide 12 randomised acute ECT treatments, though the number of treatments (and hence the length of the randomised acute treatment period) can be adjusted by the participant's own treating/admitting psychiatrist according to their clinical judgement.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT05402657
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 156 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Interventions
- Frontoparietal Ultrabrief Right Unilateral (UBRUL-FP) electroconvulsive therapy Procedure
- Temporoparietal Ultrabrief Right Unilateral (UBRUL-TP) electroconvulsive therapy Procedure
Procedure
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Healthy volunteers not accepted
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Mar 21, 2023
- Primary completion
- Aug 18, 2025
- Completion
- Feb 12, 2026
- Last update posted
- Mar 12, 2026
2023 – 2026
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 3
- U.S. states
- 2
- U.S. cities
- 3
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emory University | Atlanta | Georgia | 30322 | — |
| Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University | Augusta | Georgia | 30912 | — |
| Medical University of South Carolina | Charleston | South Carolina | 29425 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
Non-U.S. locations
This page focuses on the U.S. directory. The official record also lists 4 non-U.S. sites.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT05402657, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Mar 12, 2026 · Synced Sep 5, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT05402657 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.