The patient group consisted of 11 men and 7 women who consulted the psychiatric outpatient clinic of Kanazawa University Hospital. All were diagnosed by trained psychiatrists, and fulfilled DSM-IV criteria for PD with or without agoraphobia. Mean age (±SD) was 30.2±9.1 years (range, 16–52), the mean duration of disease (±SD) was 57.7±97.0 weeks (range, 1.5–380). None of the patients had any comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, such as major depression. Patients had never received psychoactive medication (e.g., antipsychotics, anticholinergics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, anxiolytics, cerebral metabolic activators, or cerebral vasodilators). The current severity (mild, moderate, severe, and in partial remission) of panic attacks was specified for each patient according to the DSM-III-R criteria.
