Quetiapine extended-release augmentation has not been found to be beneficial , in comparison to placebo , in non-responders to previously recommended pharmacotherapy .
In non-responders to cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ) , switching to paroxetine/citalopram has been found to be more effective than continuing CBT .
Acceptance and commitment therapy ( ACT ) has shown some improvement in patients ’ resistance to previous psychological/pharmacological interventions compared with a waiting-list condition .
Prolonged pharmacotherapy may produce significant improvement in patients with unsatisfactory response to short-term pharmacotherapy  , while switching to pharmacotherapy may help non-responders to CBT .
Purpose of Review Purpose of Review Management of treatment-resistant ( TR ) panic disorder ( PD ) is an unresolved issue .
In this paper , we provide a brief summary of previous findings , an up date d ( 2015–2017 ) systematic review of pharmacological/non-pharmacological studies , and our personal perspective on this topic .
A Randomized, Naturalistic, Parallel-Group Study for the Long-Term Treatment of Panic Disorder With Clonazepam or Paroxetine
Abstract This long-term extension of an 8-week r and omized , naturalistic study in patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia compared the efficacy and safety of clonazepam  ( n = 47 ) and paroxetine  ( n = 37 ) over a 3-year total treatment duration . Target doses for all patients were 2 mg/d clonazepam and 40 mg/d paroxetine ( both taken at bedtime ) . This study reports data from the long-term period ( 34 months ) , following the initial 8-week treatment phase . Thus , total treatment duration was 36 months . Patients with a good primary outcome during acute treatment continued monotherapy with clonazepam or paroxetine , but patients with partial primary treatment success were switched to the combination therapy . At initiation of the long-term study , the mean doses of clonazepam and paroxetine were 1.9 ( SD , 0.30 ) and 38.4 ( SD , 3.74 ) mg/d , respectively . These doses were maintained until month 36 ( clonazepam 1.9 [ SD , 0.29 ] mg/d and paroxetine 38.2 [ SD , 3.87 ] mg/d ) . Long-term treatment with clonazepam led to a small but significantly better Clinical Global Impression (CGI)–Improvement rating than treatment with paroxetine ( mean difference : CGI-Severity scale −3.48 vs −3.24 , respectively , P = 0.02 ; CGI-Improvement scale 1.06 vs 1.11 , respectively , P = 0.04 ) . Both treatments similarly reduced the number of panic attacks and severity of anxiety . Patients treated with clonazepam had significantly fewer adverse events than those treated with paroxetine ( 28.9 % vs 70.6 % , P < 0.001 ) . The efficacy of clonazepam and paroxetine for the treatment of panic disorder was maintained over the long-term course . There was a significant advantage with clonazepam over paroxetine with respect to the frequency and nature of adverse events
Quetiapine extended-release augmentation has not been found to be beneficial , in comparison to placebo , in non-responders to previously recommended pharmacotherapy .
In non-responders to cognitive behavioral therapy ( CBT ) , switching to paroxetine/citalopram has been found to be more effective than continuing CBT .
Acceptance and commitment therapy ( ACT ) has shown some improvement in patients ’ resistance to previous psychological/pharmacological interventions compared with a waiting-list condition .
Prolonged pharmacotherapy may produce significant improvement in patients with unsatisfactory response to short-term pharmacotherapy  , while switching to pharmacotherapy may help non-responders to CBT .
Purpose of Review Purpose of Review Management of treatment-resistant ( TR ) panic disorder ( PD ) is an unresolved issue .
In this paper , we provide a brief summary of previous findings , an up date d ( 2015–2017 ) systematic review of pharmacological/non-pharmacological studies , and our personal perspective on this topic .