Paroxetine in child and adolescent outpatients with panic disorder.

Paroxetine has repeatedly been shown to be effective in the treatment of panic disorder (PD) in adults, and, according to previous case observations, it may be useful in treating children and adolescents with PD as well. This preliminary naturalistic study examines effectiveness and safety of paroxetine in the treatment of children and adolescents with PD. A chart review was conducted on 18 patients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders PD admitted to the Division of Child Neurology and Psychiatry and to the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pisa. Paroxetine was given at an initial mean dosage of 8.9 ± 2.1 mg/day and was gradually increased up to 40 mg/day, depending on clinical response and side effects. Clinical status was assessed with the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) and adverse effects were assessed retrospectively at each visit. Patients with final CGI-Improvement scores of 1 or 2 were considered responders. Mean paroxetine treatment duration was 11.7 ± 8.3 month...