Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2023 Jun 20;15(6):e40677.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.40677. eCollection 2023 Jun.

A Rare Case of a Panic Attack Inducing a Junctional Escape Rhythm on ECG

Adam Kurnick  1 , Alam Ahmed  1 , Joseph Gonzalez  2 , Adam S Budzikowski  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Rare Case of a Panic Attack Inducing a Junctional Escape Rhythm on ECG

Adam Kurnick et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

We present a unique and rare case of a young female patient who presented with complaints typical of her prior panic attacks and was found to have a junctional escape rhythm on ECG. Upon resolution of her symptoms, a repeat ECG demonstrated a return to normal sinus rhythm. Given that alternative etiologies had been ruled out, it was postulated that her panic attack induced a transient junctional escape rhythm.

Keywords: cardiac stress test; electrocardiogram (ecg/ekg); junctional escape rhythm; panic attack; panic disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. ECG on presentation, demonstrating a junctional escape rhythm at 53 bpm with the absence of p waves (circles)
ECG: electrocardiogram; bpm: beats per minute
Figure 2
Figure 2. Posteroanterior (PA) chest x-ray reveals no abnormalities
Figure 3
Figure 3. ECG upon resolution of symptoms demonstrates sinus rhythm (at 53 bpm), replacing junctional rhythm. Arrows are pointing to p waves not present on the initial ECG.
ECG, electrocardiogram; bpm: beats per minute
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hafeez Y, Grossman SA. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls [Internet], StatPearls Publishing; 2023. Junctional Rhythm. - PubMed
    1. Panic attacks and supraventricular tachycardias: the chicken or the egg? Frommeyer G, Eckardt L, Breithardt G. Neth Heart J. 2013;21:74–77. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coincidence of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and panic disorder: two case reports. Domschke K, Kirchhof P, Zwanzger P, Gerlach AL, Breithardt G, Deckert J. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2010;9:13. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia misdiagnosed as panic disorder. McCrank E, Schurmans K, Lefcoe D. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:297. - PubMed
    1. Unrecognized paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. Potential for misdiagnosis as panic disorder. Lessmeier TJ, Gamperling D, Johnson-Liddon V, Fromm BS, Steinman RT, Meissner MD, Lehmann MH. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9066458/ Arch Intern Med. 1997;157:537–543. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources