THE EFFECT OF CITALOPRAM IN PANIC DISORDER AND AGORAPHOBIA - A PILOT-STUDY

A relationship seems to exist between the activity of the serotonergic neurotransmission and anxiety. It has been demonstrated that various drugs with serotonin reuptake-inhibiting effect such as clomipramine, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, and zimeldine have a beneficial effect on panic attacks. Citalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor with antidepressant effect. According to a previous Pilot study it also has antipanic effect. In the present study 24 patients fulfilling the DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder (PD) without or with agoraphobia were included. All patients were given daily doses of 40-60 mg citalopram and all except one completed the 8-week trial period. Both spontaneous and situational panic attacks and general anxiety, depression, and phobic avoidance behaviour decreased significantly during the 8-week treatment period. Most of the patients showed good improvement, and side-effects (nausea, insomnia, headache, and sweating) diminished after some weeks of treatment. The results of this pilot study are encouraging. Citalopram seems to be an effective drug in the treatment of PD patients, without any risk of dependence or anticholinergic or sedative side-effects.