Laboratory, Clinical and Therapeutic Features of Respiratory Panic Disorder Subtype

Abstract

Certain characteristics, such as heightened sensitivity to CO2 and the higher incidence of a family history of PD, clearly distinguished the Respiratory Subtype patients from the Non-Respiratory. Nonetheless, some studies failed to demonstrate differential responses to pharmacological treatment and CBT across the subtypes. RS patients seem to respond faster than NRS to pharmacological treatment with antidepressants and benzodiazepines, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding.

Quality of life in panic disorder: the influence of clinical features and personality traits

“…11 The RS is one of the PD subtypes described by Briggs et al 12 Respiratory subtype patients are more likely to have a family history of PD and have higher comorbidity rates for depressive disorders, longer illness duration, and low neuroticism scores. 13 These patients also score higher on PD severity scales and improvement with pharmacological treatment is observed more quickly than in patients without this subtype. 12,14 Personality traits are also associated with anxiety and mood disorders and are probably risk factors for PD.…”

“…[22][23][24] However, no studies were found that compared QoL domains with clinical features, the clinical severity of PD, and personality traits. Since the RS of PD has higher scores on panic symptoms scales, 13 it should also have a greater impact on QoL than other subtypes, but the only study that has evaluated these patients showed the opposite. 11 The aim of this study is to ascertain whether personality traits, severity of anxiety and depression symptoms, sociodemographic variables, PD subtype, and their interactions affect the QoL of PD patients.…”

Panic disorder respiratory subtype: psychopathology and challenge tests – an update

“…30 Moreover, imipramine, alprazolam, nortriptyline, and clonazepam effectively treat all PD patients. 33 A combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and pharmacotherapy is the first line of treatment for PD. Respiratory exercises emphasizing diaphragmatic breathing are one of the components of CBT, leading to All studies used the Briggs et al criteria 29 to define the respiratory subtype of panic disorder.…”

Personalized medicine in panic disorder: where are we now? A meta-regression analysis

“…Because RCTs refer to the ''average" patient, they usually do not investigate the several unique clinical characteristics of patients that may moderate the outcomes. For instance, scientific evidence suggested the existence of a respiratory subtype (RS) of PD that is characterized by clinical respiratory symptoms, higher occurrence of spontaneous panic attacks, higher familial loading for PD, and hypersensitivity to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) inhalation that is considered a biomarker of vulnerability to PAs [74,75]. Some studies found that patients with RS of PD respond better to imipramine than alprazolam, and to serotonergic agents and drugs with cholinergic profile than to noradrenergic ones.…”