Am J Psychiatry 1996; 153:823-825
Copyright © 1996 by American Psychiatric Association
Prospective evaluation of panic potentiation following 35% CO2 challenge in nonclinical subjects
PJ Harrington, NB Schmidt and MJ Telch
University of Texas at Austin 78712, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the effect of panic provocation on the
subsequent development of panic attacks and panic disorder in nonclinical
subjects with no history of spontaneous panic. METHOD: Sixty-two subjects
who had completed a study examining fearful responses to a single vital
capacity inhalation of 35% CO2 were reevaluated 1 year following the
challenge test. RESULTS: Challenge- induced panic was not related to the
later development of panic or panic disorder. According to the Structured
Clinical Interview for DSM- III-R--Non-Patient Edition, none of the
subjects met DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder and only six subjects
reported spontaneous panic during the year after panic provocation. Of the
six subjects who experienced spontaneous panic, two had panicked in
response to the CO2 challenge. CONCLUSIONS: The experimental provocation of
panic in nonclinical subjects appears to be a safe research paradigm for
exploring the psychopathogenicity of panic disorder.
