Heart Disorder Often Diagnosed As Panic Attack

Rapid heartbeat caused by a curable heart disorder can easily be misdiagnosed as a panic attack, a study has found.

That means patients can end up going to psychiatrists instead of getting treatment for the abnormal electrical impulses that control their heartbeat, according to the study in today’s issue of the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers said up to 154,000 Americans each year suffer new cases of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia - or PSVT.

In the study of 107 patients with accelerated heartbeat, 59 cases of PSVT were undiagnosed. In 32, symptoms were attributed “to panic, anxiety or stress.”

On average, a correct diagnosis took three years and four months, the study found. Treatment eliminated symptoms in 86 percent of cases, the study said.