Atypical panic attacks include features such as focal paresthesias or
sensory distortions, but attempts to demonstrate a relationship to partial
seizures have been unsuccessful. Two patients with atypical panic attacks
had attacks during EEG monitoring: one during a routine EEG in the EEG
laboratory, the other at home during ambulatory monitoring. Focal paroxysms
of sharp wave activity appeared on both patients' EEGs coincident with the
spontaneous onset of panic attack symptoms. Both patients remained
conscious. The correlation of focal paroxysmal EEG changes with panic
attack symptoms suggests that these attacks were produced by partial
seizure activity. Further study of the relationship between panic attacks
and seizures is indicated.
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