Am J Psychiatry 1987; 144:1053-1056
Copyright © 1987 by American Psychiatric Association
Three patients with concomitant panic attacks and seizure disorder: possible clues to the neurology of anxiety
JB Weilburg, DM Bear and G Sachs
The authors present the cases of three patients in whom panic attacks and
epilepsy appeared together. These cases illustrate various possible
relationships between panic attacks and epilepsy. These relationships
include panic attacks representing the aura of a complex partial seizure,
panic attacks representing a manifestation of interictal behavior change,
and panic attacks and seizure coexisting independently. The authors
conclude that exploration of the mechanisms operating in unusual cases like
these may provide a vehicle for clarifying the neurobiological basis of
anxiety.
