Caracterísiticas clíncas y fenomenológicas del paciente con trastorno de pánico en Puerto Rico

Resumen

In this article the clinical profile of 28 clinical patients with panic disorder (PD) is presented. The results demonstrate that PD patients present a clinical gamut of psychophysiological symptoms which mimick cardiovascular, neurological and respiratory disease. Because the symptoms of PD are acute and cause considerable psychophysiological distress, 82% of PD patients go to an emergency room and 86% have persistent thoughts that they are dying. Before they visit a psychiatric or a psychologist, they are usually attended by cardiologists or general medical practitioners. The results of this investigation are compared with recent studies in the United States and we found many commonalities between them.