Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined ambulatory ECG changes during panic attacks in patients with panic disorder. METHOD: Ten otherwise healthy women with panic disorder and complaints of chest pain during panic attacks underwent a symptom-limited exercise test on a treadmill and then wore an ambulatory ECG monitor with software designed to detect and record ischemic events and used a hand-held computer for up to 6 days. RESULTS: Eight of the women had panic attacks while using the hand-held computer and the ECG monitor. No ischemic events occurred during any of the exercise tests. Twelve tachycardiac events occurred during panic attacks and 84 tachycardiac events occurred that were not associated with panic attacks. Panic attacks were associated with significantly more symptoms than were tachycardiac episodes. CONCLUSIONS: In this group of otherwise healthy women with panic disorder and chest pain, ambulatory ischemic changes were not recorded