Hyperventilation-induced cerebral ischemia in panic disorder and effect of nimodipine.

Basilar artery blood flow was measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography before and during hyperventilation in nine patients with panic disorder and nine normal comparison subjects. The hyperventilation-induced decrease in basilar artery blood flow was significantly greater in patients with panic attacks than in comparison subjects. Two patients with decreases in basilar flow greater than 80% were successfully treated with nimodipine, a centrally active calcium channel blocker.