Changes of Cerebral Glucose Metabolism and After 12 Weeks of Escitalpram Treatment in Panic Disorder

Sponsor

Samsung Medical Center (Other)

Overall Status

Completed

CT.gov ID

NCT00767871

Collaborator

H. Lundbeck A/S (Industry)

Enrollment

Location

Arm

21.1

Duration (Months)

2.2

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Panic disorder is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders and recently abnormal fear network is known to be implicated in the pathophysiology of panic disorder. The fear network involves many brain regions such as amygdala, hippocampus, periaqueductal gray (PAG), locus coeruleus, parahippocampal gyrus, frontal cortex, and thalamus. Escitalopram, a highly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is usually effective for panic dis order, but there is little information on how escitalopram affects the fear network.

The specific aim of this study is to test the following hypotheses using 18F-FDG positron emission tomography (PET)

Patients with panic disorder will show abnormal activity of the fear network compared to healthy comparison subjects.
Patients with panic disorder will show normalized activity of the fear network after 12-weeks of treatment with escitalopram.
The changes of fear work after the treatment will be associated with psychological variables and neurohormones.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Panic Disorder	Drug: Lexapro	Phase 4

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Actual Enrollment :

46 participants

Allocation:

N/A

Intervention Model:

Single Group Assignment

Masking:

None (Open Label)

Primary Purpose:

Basic Science

Official Title:

Changes of Cerebral Glucose Metabolism Associated With the Fear Network Activity Before and After 12 Weeks of Escitalpram Treatment in Panic Disorder

Study Start Date :

Mar 1, 2007

Actual Primary Completion Date :

Aug 1, 2007

Actual Study Completion Date :

Dec 1, 2008

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Escitalopram escitalopram (10-20mg) to panic patients	Drug: Lexapro 12 week treatment with lexapro

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: Escitalopram

escitalopram (10-20mg) to panic patients

Drug: Lexapro

12 week treatment with lexapro

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

18FDG-PET, PDSS & HAM-A [12 weeks]

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

20 Years to 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Yes

Inclusion Criteria:

panic disorder
20-60 years

Exclusion Criteria:

history of major psychosis (schizophrenia or bipolar disorder), social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. The acceptable score on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale at entry into the study will be less than 17.
patients and volunteers with alcohol dependence and current regular use of benzodiazepines will be excluded. Subjects with current or previous regular use of benzodiazepines will be excluded.