Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:1389-1394
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
The treatment of pathological panic states with propranolol
JF Heiser and D Defrancisco
The authors report on the effects of propranolol, a beta-adrenergic
blocking agent, on 10 patients with pathological panic states. Propranolol
was effective in treating acute pathological panic, but modest doses of the
drug administered for brief periods of time did not alleviate chronic panic
attacks associated with agoraphobia. The drug suppressed panic associated
with depressive syndromes but did not affect the depression and had no
clear effect on anticipatory anxiety. The authors suggest that further
study of these findings may clarify other clinical problems.
