DOES ISCHEMIA OCCUR WITH PANIC ATTACKS

Objective: The authors examined ambulatory ECG changes during panic at tacks in patients with panic disorder. Method: Ten otherwise healthy w omen with panic disorder and complaints of chest pain during panic att acks underwent a symptom-limited exercise test on a treadmill and then wore and 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 han-hel d computer and the ECG monitor. No ischemic events occurred during any of the exercise tests. Twelve tachycardiac events occurred during pan ic attacks and 84 tachycardiac events occurred that were not associate d with panic attacks. Panic attacks were associated with significantly more symptoms than were tachycardiac episodes. Conclusions: In this g roup of otherwise healthy women with panic disorder and chest pain, am bulatory ischemic changes were not recorded during panic attacks.