Letter to the Editor
Sir: Recently, pathophysiologic relations between panic disorder
and epilepsy, at least in a subgroup of patients, have been
hypothesized, and thus the rational use of anticonvulsants in panic disorder has been proposed. Several preliminary non-placebo-
controlled studies used carbamazepine successfully in
panic disorder, even though one non-placebo-controlled study
found carbamazepine ineffective. Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) is
a new anticonvulsant substance with a chemical structure related
to that of carbamazepine but with quite different metabolic
pathways and active metabolites. Oxcarbazepine has not been
studied in panic disorder yet. We present a patient who developed
panic disorder after suffering from two grand mal seizures
and in whom both conditions were relieved by oxcarbazepine.
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