Cerebral blood flow velocity in untreated panic disorder patients: a transcranial Doppler ultrasonography study.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to compare resting cerebral blood flow velocity values of unmedicated patients in the acute phase of panic disorder with resting values of healthy control subjects.


METHODS
Nineteen unmedicated panic disorder patients were assessed for degree of anxiety using the Hamilton Anxiety Scale. The patients and 20 healthy age-matched control subjects were then insonated at rest using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD). For TCD, the anterior, the middle, and the posterior cerebral arteries were insonated bilaterally in all patients.


RESULTS
Compared with healthy age-matched control subjects, acute unmedicated panic disorder patients showed a significant increase in cerebral blood flow velocity, bilaterally in the middle and the anterior cerebral artery, and unilaterally in the left posterior cerebral artery. Cerebral blood flow velocity in the right middle cerebral artery correlated positively to the item "Fear" on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, whereas pulsatility index in the posterior cerebral artery bilaterally and in the left middle cerebral artery correlated negatively to the item "Mood."


CONCLUSIONS
Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography agrees well with validated psychometric methods. If follow-up studies confirm our findings, TCD could allow an objective assessment of the mental state of panic disorder patients and reliably discriminate panic disorder patients from normal control subjects.
Owega
A
A
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Technology (RWTH), Aachen, Germany.
Sabri
O
O
Klingelhöfer
J
J
Albers
M
M
D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D004453:Echoencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial / Q000379:methods*