[Anxiety attacks and epileptic seizures. Determining similarities based on a case report].

A patient suffering from panic attacks without any other clinical signs of epilepsy showed epileptic-form activity in sleep-deprivation EEG. After therapy with carbamazepine, the intensity and number of the panic attacks dropped significantly, whereas therapy with a tricyclic antidepressant had had no effect. Thus, even isolated panic attacks may have an epileptogenic background and should be taken into account in differential diagnosis.