Decreased blood flow of temporal regions of the brain in subjects with panic disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of the current study was to investigate alterations of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in subjects with panic disorder.


METHODS
Twenty-two subjects with panic disorder who were under psychotropic medications and 25 age and gender-matched healthy comparison subjects were assessed regarding the rCBF of using Tc-99m-hexamethyl propylenamino oxime single photon emission tomography (SPECT). Using statistical parametric mapping, the rCBF was compared between panic disorder and healthy comparison groups.


RESULTS
Decreased rCBF flow in right superior temporal lobe was observed in subjects with panic disorder (p<0.05 after correction for multiple comparisons). The rCBF in right superior temporal gyrus negatively correlated with the duration of illness, scores of panic disorder severity scale (PDSS), Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HARS) and Zung self-rating anxiety scale (Z-SAS).


CONCLUSIONS
We report that there is a decreased cerebral blood flow of temporal regions of the brain in panic disorder and that this decrease may, in part, reflect the clinical severity of panic disorder.
Lee
Yujin S
YS
Department of Psychiatry, Eunpyung Metropolitan Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Hwang
Jaeuk
J
Kim
Seog Ju
SJ
Sung
Young Hoon
YH
Kim
Jihyun
J
Sim
Minyoung E
ME
Bae
Soojeong C
SC
Kim
Minue J
MJ
Lyoo
In Kyoon
IK
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods