title: Altered heart rate variability in panic disorder patients.
abstract: Resting electrocardiographic recordings were obtained from 10 patients with panic disorder (PD) and 14 normal controls. Signal analysis of the beat-to-beat heart rate variability was performed by means of power spectrum analysis. The analysis revealed that patients with PD had marked reduction in the high-frequency peaks of the power spectrum densities. An Energy Ratio Index (ERI), which accurately differentiated between patients and controls, was calculated. In PD patients, a significant correlation was demonstrated between the clinical ratings and the energy ratios. Our findings suggest that decreased heart rate variability may be a characteristic of PD. The importance of this finding as a diagnostic marker and the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms need to be further explored.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cnaani
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Harel
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ben-Haim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted