Hissei Imai, Aran Tajika, Peiyao Chen, Alessandro Pompoli, Giuseppe Guaiana, Mariasole Castellazzi, Irene Bighelli, Francesca Girlanda, Corrado Barbui, Markus Koesters, Andrea Cipriani, Toshi A Furukawa

Panic disorder is common in the general population. It is often associated with other psychiatric disorders, such as drug dependence, major depression, bipolar disorder, social phobia, specific phobia and generalised anxiety disorder. Azapirones are a class of drugs used as anxiolytics. They are associated with less drowsiness, psychomotor impairment, alcohol potentiation and potential for addiction or abuse than benzodiazepines. However, azapirones are not widely used in the treatment of panic disorder and evidence for their efficacy is unclear. It is important to find out if azapirones are effective and acceptable in the treatment of panic disorder.