German guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of neurosyphilis.

Introduction: In view of the importance of neurosyphilis and the difficulties encountered in diagnosing it, the S1 guideline "Neurosyphilis" has been published by the German Society for Neurology (DGN) in accordance with the stipulations of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF). The present article is an abridged translation of that German guideline.

Main Recommendations: (a) Neurosyphilis can manifest as early neurosyphilis (meningitis, meningovascular neurosyphilis or syphilitic gummas) or late neurosyphilis (tabes dorsalis, general paresis).

[Statements of a patient concerning his writer's cramp].

The spontaneous statements a patient with writers' cramp made in analytic psychotherapy about the relatively slight motor disorder of his right hand were recorded. This immediate presentation of the relations between the patient's person and his disorder were compared with investigations and reports about patients with writer's cramp in psychotherapy. Similarities and differences in the views of the patient and of the therapists about the relation between person and symptom were shown.

[Multiple sclerosis and personality aspects (author's transl)].

In a sample of 85 multiple sclerosis patients an increase of the objective neurological degree of severity of the illness resulted in a significant decrease of manifold psychometrically recorded functions of intelligence (verbal and non-verbal intelligence). Of the personality characteristics registered by questionnaire only depression proved significant, but numerically slightly positive correlation with the degree of severity of the illness. The correlations between degree of severity and personality characteristics, as aggressiveness, sociability, neuroticism, extraversion were not significant.