Patients under evaluation for cardiac transplant surgery were seen for
routine psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. Of 35 patients with idiopathic
cardiomyopathy, 83% (N = 29) had definite or probable panic disorder. Of 25
patients with postinfarction cardiac failure, rheumatic heart disease, or
congenital heart disease, only 16% (N = 4) had definite or probable panic
disorder. The authors suggest that autonomic mechanisms may underlie the
association of cardiomyopathy and panic disorder and that increased cardiac
sympathetic tone or circulating catecholamines may cause myocarditis and
cardiomyopathy.Abstract Teaser