Panic disorder associated with a right paralimbic lesion

There is increasing evidence incriminating the right paralimbic areas in the pathogenesis of panic disorder. We present the case of a 32-year-old patient with a right paralimbic grade 2 astrocytoma whose only symptomatology consisted of episodic autonomic and experiential phenomena consistent with a diagnosis of a panic disorder. We also attempt to integrate the manifestations of panic disorder with a theoretical model of the functional role of paralimbic areas.