RESUMO
The evaluation of cochleovestibular dysfunction in psychiatric patients often causes a difficult problem in neurootological experience. The authors discuss here the neurobiological basis of panic disorders and cochleovestibular dysfunction. In this multicenter study, we examined 63 patients with vertigo and panic disease. Twenty patients with primary panic disease and consecutive vertigo composed group 1, whereas group 2 comprised 43 vertiginous patients with secondary panic disease. The most interesting question is whether the patients have an organic vestibular lesion, which would explain why vertigo alone is the problematic symptom in these panic patients, whereas in other patients, panic disease can cause other severe symptoms that resemble heart attack, dyspnea, or abdominal crisis. Vertigo has a bidirectional connection with psychiatric disorders. The panic disorder can be superimposed on chronic vertigo, and psychiatric patients with a cochleovestibular lesion have diminished chances for complete recovery. The examination of psychiatric patients with vertigo is very time consuming and requires much more empathy than does examination of vertiginous patients with a normal mental state. Anxiety provokes somatic and behavioral symptoms in most such patients. The treatment of vertigo in panic patients and of the panic disorder in vertiginous patients requires cooperation between neurootologist and psychiatrist.
