Am J Psychiatry 1988; 145:1104-1109
Copyright © 1988 by American Psychiatric Association
Lack of efficacy of carbamazepine in the treatment of panic disorder
TW Uhde, MB Stein and RM Post
Unit on Anxiety and Affective Disorders, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
The authors conducted a controlled study of carbamazepine in the treatment
of 14 patients with panic disorder. Although there was a statistically
significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety on several measures, only one
of the patients was judged to have a marked and sustained clinical
improvement while taking carbamazepine. Forty percent of the patients had a
decrease in frequency of panic attacks during carbamazepine treatment, 50%
had an increase, and 10% showed no change. The presence of either EEG
abnormalities or prominent psychosensory symptoms did not predict response
to carbamazepine. These findings are discussed within the context of an
epileptiform model for panic disorder.
