title: Panic attacks. A review of treatments and pathogenesis.
abstract: In the psychiatric literature, panic attacks have been considered as part of the clinical manifestations of anxiety neurosis, agoraphobia, functional cardiovascular disturbances, and the phobic depersonalization syndrome. Even though recurrent spontaneous panic attacks are described in these entities, the importance ascribed to them has been minor one. Therefore, panic attacks are poorly understood from a psycho-physio pathological point of view. In the past years, new trends in the nosology of psychiatric disorders have grouped the recurrent spontaneous panic attacks under the heading "panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks." In this view, we present the results of the controlled pharmacological trials on patients complaining of panic attacks. Some relationships between panic attacks, panic disorder, and agoraphobia are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000379:Agoraphobia / Q000188:drug therapy; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear; D006801:Humans; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010200:Panic
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D000929:Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors