Twelve patients with DSM-III diagnoses of panic disorder and four normal
volunteers were studied during hyperventilation of room air and increased
ventilation stimulated by 5% CO2. Patients also underwent sodium lactate
infusion. Eight of the patients had a panic attack during sodium lactate
infusion, seven during CO2 inhalation, and three during room-air
hyperventilation. Since CO2 increases the firing of the locus ceruleus, and
since sodium lactate infusion is known to increase cerebral CO2, these
findings are consistent with other evidence implicating the locus ceruleus
in panic anxiety.
Abstract Teaser