Reply to the Comments on “The Use of tDCS in a Patient with MECP2 Gene Mutation Presenting with Recurrent Catatonia: A Case Report”

Abstract

Dear commentators,

We thank you for your interest and critical comments on our work. The patient showed an X-linked recessive (hemizygous) missense mutation c.499C > T (p. Arg167Trp) at Exon 4 (NM_004992.4) of MECP2 (ClinVar database ID:143603 and dbSNP database rs61748420). This mutation has been described in males with intellectual disability and other psychological symptoms.^1,2 It is likely to be pathogenic.³ We agree that family members should have been tested; this was not possible as they did not agree to the same because of financial constraints.

All relevant investigations, including those you mentioned, were carried out. We agree that definite evidence of improvement attributable to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) would require well-designed studies. The index paper is a case report and does not claim to provide any high-quality evidence in this regard.

The tDCS may be associated with mild and transient side effects. However, the index patient tolerated it well and did not report any discomfort. You are right; the use of tDCS should be accompanied by due diligence and precautions.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Declaration Regarding the Use of Generative AI

None used.

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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