Anticonvulsant-responsive panic attacks with temporal lobe EEG abnormalities.

The phenomenology of panic attacks and of complex partial seizures overlap, and at times distinguishing between the two entities is difficult. The authors report five patients with recurrent panic attacks and temporal lobe EEG abnormalities whose symptoms did not warrant a clinical diagnosis of partial seizures but who responded well to anticonvulsant therapy. The cases suggest that focal cortical discharges may trigger panic attacks in some patients in whom an unequivocal diagnosis of epilepsy cannot be made. Electroencephalography and anticonvulsant trials may be appropriate in patients with panic attacks refractory to conventional treatment.