Key result
Inhalation of 35% CO2 triggered significantly higher Acute Panic Inventory scores in patients with normal coronary arteries and panic disorder compared to those without panic disorder and controls.
Why the study?
Does 35% CO2 inhalation reliably discriminate between panic disorder and non-panic disorder in patients with chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries?
Does 35% CO2 inhalation reliably discriminate between panic disorder and non-panic disorder in patients with chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries?
Inhalation of 35% CO2 triggers more intense panic responses in patients with chest pain, normal coronary arteries, and panic disorder, validating interview-based diagnoses.
May support CO2 challenge to validate panic disorder in chest pain with normal coronaries; leaves open diagnostic adoption pending prospective trials.
OBJECTIVES: Several interview studies have suggested that panic disorder (PD) exists in patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (NCA). Interview studies require corroboration by other studies in order to validate them. The purpose of this study is to test whether response to the inhalation of 35% CO2 reliably discriminates between PD and non-panic disorder patients in this population. METHOD: Three groups were studied: six with NCA and PD, five with NCA and no PD, and ten in the control group. All subjects breathed room air, then 35% CO2 in a single-blind fashion. Each completed the Acute Panic Inventory (API) before and during the procedure. RESULTS: The NCA-panic group scored significantly higher than the other two groups on the Acute Panic Inventory from baseline to post-inhalation. CONCLUSION: Despite several methodological limitations including a relatively small number people in each cells, 35% CO2 was shown to trigger more intense responses in panic patients, thus helping to validate the interview findings.
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Beitman et al. (1992) studied Chest pain with angiographically normal coronary arteries (n=21). 35% CO2 inhalation vs. NCA without panic disorder and healthy controls was evaluated on Acute Panic Inventory (API) score change from baseline to post-inhalation. Inhalation of 35% CO2 triggered significantly higher Acute Panic Inventory scores in patients with normal coronary arteries and panic disorder compared to those without panic disorder and controls.
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