Panic disorder: review of the empirical and rational basis of pharmacological treatment.

The increasing interest in and clinical research on the nature and treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia have produced and should continue to produce rapid progress in the accumulation of scientific knowledge in this field. This article reviews some basic aspects of the effective pharmacotherapeutic management of panic-agoraphobic patients. Research results with different drug classes are reviewed and their implications for effective treatment discussed. The final section deals with special issues of case management, such as choice of specific drug, length of treatment, and probability and frequency of relapse.