http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/ en-us Wed, 23 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:50:24 GMT Silverchair editor@archneur.jamanetwork.com webmaster@archneur.jamanetwork.com http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=792926 Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT Wiest G, Lehner-Baumgartner E, Baumgartner C. <span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Objective</div>To describe the unique case of a patient with panic attacks and bilateral selective amygdala lesions due to Urbach-Wiethe disease.<div class="boxTitle">Design</div>Case report.<div class="boxTitle">Setting</div>Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, Medical University of Vienna.<div class="boxTitle">Patient</div>A 38-year-old man with Urbach-Wiethe disease developed spontaneous panic attacks and depressive mood, which ceased after antidepressive treatment.<div class="boxTitle">Interventions</div>Video electroencephalography monitoring, magnetic resonance imaging, and neuropsychological testing.<div class="boxTitle">Results</div>Extended video electroencephalography monitoring excluded an epileptic etiology of the panic attacks. Results of cranial magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral selective calcifications of the whole amygdaloid complex. Neuropsychological testing revealed selective memory impairment of autobiographic episodes with preserved memory for autobiographic facts.<div class="boxTitle">Conclusions</div>Our findings indicate that the occurrence of panic attacks does not critically depend on the integrity of the amygdala. Furthermore, the neuropsychological findings in our patient suggest that the amygdala represents an essential neural substrate for the processing of episodic autobiographic memories.</span> 63 12 1798 1801 10.1001/archneur.63.12.1798 http://archneur.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=792926