OBJECTIVE: To describe the unique case of a patient with panic attacks and bilateral selective amygdala lesions due to Urbach-Wiethe disease. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING: Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, Medical University of Vienna. Patient A 38-year-old man with Urbach-Wiethe disease developed spontaneous panic attacks and depressive mood, which ceased after antidepressive treatment. INTERVENTIONS: Video electroencephalography monitoring, magnetic resonance imaging, and neuropsychological testing. RESULTS: Extended video electroencephalography monitoring excluded an epileptic etiology of the panic attacks. Results of cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral selective calcifications of the whole amygdaloid complex. Neuropsychological testing revealed selective memory impairment of autobiographic episodes with preserved memory for autobiographic facts. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the occurrence of panic attacks does not critically depend on the integrity of the amygdala. Furthermore, the neuropsychological findings in our patient suggest that the amygdala represents an essential neural substrate for the processing of episodic autobiographic memories.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the unique case of a patient with panic attacks and bilateral selective amygdala lesions due to Urbach-Wiethe disease. DESIGN: Case report. SETTING:Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, Medical University of Vienna. Patient A 38-year-old man with Urbach-Wiethe disease developed spontaneous panic attacks and depressive mood, which ceased after antidepressive treatment. INTERVENTIONS: Video electroencephalography monitoring, magnetic resonance imaging, and neuropsychological testing. RESULTS: Extended video electroencephalography monitoring excluded an epileptic etiology of the panic attacks. Results of cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral selective calcifications of the whole amygdaloid complex. Neuropsychological testing revealed selective memory impairment of autobiographic episodes with preserved memory for autobiographic facts. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the occurrence of panic attacks does not critically depend on the integrity of the amygdala. Furthermore, the neuropsychological findings in our patient suggest that the amygdala represents an essential neural substrate for the processing of episodic autobiographic memories.
Authors: Thomas Dresler; Anne Guhn; Sara V Tupak; Ann-Christine Ehlis; Martin J Herrmann; Andreas J Fallgatter; Jürgen Deckert; Katharina Domschke Journal: J Neural Transm (Vienna) Date: 2012-06-13 Impact factor: 3.575
Authors: Thomas Dresler; Tim Hahn; Michael M Plichta; Lena H Ernst; Sara V Tupak; Ann-Christine Ehlis; Bodo Warrings; Jürgen Deckert; Andreas J Fallgatter Journal: J Neural Transm (Vienna) Date: 2011-01-04 Impact factor: 3.575
Authors: Mustafa A Salih; Khaled K Abu-Amero; Saleh Alrasheed; Ibrahim A Alorainy; Lu Liu; John A McGrath; Lionel Van Maldergem; Yasser H Al-Faky; Adel H AlSuhaibani; Darren T Oystreck; Thomas M Bosley Journal: BMC Med Genet Date: 2011-02-24 Impact factor: 2.103
Authors: Philip L Johnson; Tammy J Sajdyk; Stephanie D Fitz; Mathew W Hale; Christopher A Lowry; Anders Hay-Schmidt; Anantha Shekhar Journal: Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry Date: 2013-03-21 Impact factor: 5.067