Combined prolonged exposure therapy and paroxetine for PTSD related to the World Trade Center attack: a randomized controlled trial.

Patients with PTSD from experiences during the World Trade Center attack responded better to paroxetine, up to 50 mg/day, than placebo over 10 weeks of exposure therapy that included weekly 90-minute guided imagery sessions and cognitive-behavioral exercises. By week 10, 42% of patients in the paroxetine group remitted, compared with 17% in the placebo group. The differences did not persist for patients who continued therapies beyond 10 weeks; by week 22, the remission rate was 45% for both treatments among those remaining in the study.