Cerebral glucose metabolism in women with panic disorder

Objective: This study was undertaken to clarify earlier inconsistent findings in brain metabolic topography in panic disorder patients at rest. Method: Positron emission tomography (PET) with [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose was used to determine cerebral metabolic activity in six female patients with a DSM-III-R diagnosis of panic disorder and in six healthy female volunteers. All patients with panic disorder were medication free and were sensitive to lactate infusion. Results: A significant increase in glucose metabolism was found in the left hippocampus and parahippocampal area of the panic disorder subjects in comparison with that found in the healthy subjects in addition, a significant decrease in metabolism was found in the right inferior parietal and right superior temporal brain regions of the panic disorder subjects in comparison with that of the normal subjects. There was no significant correlation between scores for the severity of panic disorder or for the severity of lactate-induce...