Search

Gerd Huber (1921-2012) was an influential West German psychiatrist and neurologist of the postwar period. Especially his studies with imaging techniques on the question of brain atrophy, the long-term course and the basic symptoms of schizophrenic disorders made a significant contribution to the research of schizophrenia and were discussed internationally. The Huber Archive, which was handed over to Bezirkskrankenhaus Günzburg, is currently being catalogued for research purposes. The archive contains Huber's private and professional papers, his writings, and a small partial archive of Kurt Schneider. These archival records not only reflect the development of Gerd Huber's academic career, but also are significant for research on the history of psychiatry in postwar West Germany, the development of concepts in the fields of schizophrenia research and biological psychiatry, the history of universities and everyday life, and other topics., Competing Interests: Die Autorinnen/Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (Thieme. All rights reserved.)

The system of anatomical body procurement had to be reorganized in Germany after the end of the Second World War. At that time, the country had been split up and, in its Western zones of occupation, which eventually would form the Federal Republic of Germany, a democratic form of government was reintroduced. While political and economic conditions were improving, well-known obstacles of sufficient body supply turned out to be increasingly complicated to overcome. This development led to the dissolution of the traditional system of body procurement which had, during the centuries and political systems, always depended on the state. From the 1960s onwards, it became solely reliant on willed body donations. The article deals with the question how this fundamental change came to be, and which motives and arguments on the side of the anatomists as well as the administration were crucial for the final decision of limiting body procurement to willed donations. Using the example of the anatomical institute of Munich University, it is possible not only to highlight the political process of dealing with the problem of anatomical body procurement after 1945. Additionally, the quantitative changes in body supply resulting from those developments will be presented and analyzed. Thereby it can be displayed how the dissolution of the traditional system meant the solution of its inherent problems., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This paper examines the influence of sociology as a discipline on the Psychiatrie-Enquete by analysing interviews with expert (psychiatrist, psychologist, sociologist etc.) witnesses of the Enquete process and by analysing pertinent documents., Methods: 24 interviews were conducted and analysed using qualitative secondary analysis., Results: Sociological texts and research results influenced the professional development of psychiatrists at the time. Cross-talk between psychiatry and sociology developed through seminal sociological analyses of psychiatric institutions and the interest taken in medical institutions in a number of sociological texts. Inter-disciplinary joint studies (of sociologists and psychiatrists) affected the research interest and professional behaviour of psychiatrists involved in the process on the way to the Psychiatrie-Enquete., Conclusion: Tenacity of psychiatrists' systems of opinion was dissolved by impulses from the sociological thought community. The forms of contact between the psychiatric and the sociological thought collective which we could reconstruct are an example of the evolution of knowledge and practice through transdisciplinary communication., Competing Interests: Die Autoren geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the political preparation of the Enquete Commission of the German Bundestag which aimed at assessing and improving the psychiatric and psychotherapeutic/psychosomatic care in the Federal Republic of Germany., Methods: We performed a selective literature review and a hermeneutic analysis of political, parliamentary and administrative records from public archives which reflect and help reconstruct the run-up process to the so-called Enquete of psychiatry., Results: Literature and documents show how individual actors both in the mental health professions and politics bundled activities in the domains of psychiatry and mental health care as well as health/social politics; they helped to implement political, parliamentary and administrative steps leading up to the Enquete of the German Bundestag (1971-1975). In addition, the records and pertinent literature document the social, cultural and political developments in the Federal Republic of Germany which helped initiate the Enquete project., Conclusion: The Enquete was not a straightforward process and was also not tied to any moment. It fits more into the longer-term reform process of psychiatry in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The foundation of university departments of urology in postwar East and West Germany faced some opposition by some university professors of surgery who wanted to preserve the unity of their discipline. In North Rhine-Westphalia, heads of municipal hospitals or senior members of university hospitals' staff often received the first chaired professorships of urology.

This article outlines the handling by the German Society of Urology (DGU) of its own history between 1945 and 1961. Topics include the re-formation of the society in 1949, the official disbandment of the pre-war society in 1955, the handling of the history of the Nazi era professional society and the close connections between East and West German urologists. Finally, the establishment of an institutional interpretation of history will be examined.

The occurrence of second primary malignancies was assessed among 2922 women with cervical cancer, 2721 women with endometrial cancer and 1745 women with malignant neoplasms of the ovaries, who were notified to the cancer registry of Saarland, Germany, between 1968 and 1987. Analyses are presented for second primary malignancies at any site and at the most important single sites. Among women with cervical cancer, 98 second primary malignancies were observed, slightly fewer than the 99.3 cases that would have been expected on the basis of the incidence rates of the general population (standardized incidence ratio, SIR = 0.99). More second malignancies were observed than expected in the urinary bladder (SIR = 3.51) while the opposite applied to second neoplasms in the breast (SIR = 0.56). Among women with endometrial and ovarian cancer, the numbers of observed cases slightly exceeded the expected numbers for second primary neoplasms at any site (SIR = 1.19 and 1.41 respectively). More second primary neoplasms were observed than expected in the colon, breast, urinary bladder and kidneys among these women. We discuss our results, which are in agreement with findings among North European and North American populations, from clinical and etiological points of view.

For the purpose of assessing possible opiate dependence (question of culpability) toxicological tests (gas chromatography; mass-spectrometry) were performed on cuttings of hair of a 30-year-old man who had within a short period committed several punishable offences 8 months previously. It was thus possible to determine opiate intake over a period of time corresponding to the length of hair. About 20 micrograms/g codeine and up to 4 micrograms/g morphine were demonstrated, in addition also 30 micrograms/g bromazepam. These results proved that amounts exceeding therapeutic levels of bromazepam and codeine-containing drugs had been taken during the period in question.

From the multicenter study of the Red Cross Blood Banks in the FRG HIV-antibody prevalences and incidences are documented since July 1985. Constantly low prevalences and incidences since 1987 of less than 2 Western blot (Wb)-positive donors and less than 1 Wb-positive donor per 100,000 donors respectively confirm our estimate of the rest risk of an HIV-infection by blood products of 1:500,000 to 1:3 million donations. In the epidemiologic details there seems to be a trend to an increase of the incidence in male repeat blood donors. The modes of HIV-infection in blood donors have changed to an increasing number of infections acquired in heterosexual contacts to persons at risk.

Sera of 4208 schoolchildren in Ulm and surrounding areas (1916 boys, 2292 girls; mean age 13.9 [7-21] years) were analysed for the presence of cytoplasmatic islet-cell antibodies (ICA). ICA were demonstrated in 44 children (1.05%). Complement-fixing ICA (CF-ICA) were found in six of them, insulin autoantibodies (IAA) in seven. The early phase of insulin response in the intravenous glucose tolerance test was below the 1st percentile of normal controls in two of the ICA-positive children. In the course of the subsequent 6-9 months the ICA disappeared in half of the previously positive children. In the two with abnormal glucose tolerance tests ICA, CF-ICA and abnormal insulin secretion persisted during the observation period of 9 months. In another CF-ICA-positive schoolchild insulin response to the glucose tolerance test fell below the 1st percentile after 6 months. These results indicate that, even in an unselected group of children, persisting ICA and CF-ICA are high-risk markers for abnormal insulin secretion, which precedes the onset of type I diabetes.

In West Germany, the sickness insurance companies pay for a psychotherapy treatment course for a certain length of time may or may not be sufficient for achieving a successful treatment result. We made a statistical analysis of a large sample of patients (n = 1,689) treated in the outpatient department of a psychotherapeutic hospital of the University of Ulm. It was found that the longer the treatment period covered by the study, the lower the proportion of successfully completed courses. These results are discussed with reference to the long-term treatment ("dose")/effect relationship.

After a 4-year period in clinical practice the autologous transfusion concept Ulm (ATU) has proved its value. The effort and expense involved are entirely justified by obvious medical advantages. The patients' active involvement in the therapeutic procedure is a remarkable aspect of positive motivation. Furthermore, the medical staff is positively motivated, too, in spite of the obvious additional load to their daily routine work.

Since July 1987 the German Red Cross Baden-Württemberg has practised confidential and anonymous self-exclusion of potential blood donours. The answers given by all donours of the Red Cross Blood Donour Service in Baden-Württemberg (n = 297,648) between 23. 2. 1988 and 31. 1. 1989 were analysed. Virological data of self-exclusion donours (n = 1910) and of a control group (n = 1856) were compared. No donour who had excluded himself was anti-HIV positive, but two of the donours who had designated their blood for transfusion. Those that had excluded their blood donation had a significantly higher prevalence of hepatitis B markers. There was no significantly higher prevalence than among other blood donours with respect to anti-CMV antibodies, syphilis and increased GPT levels. The proportion of male first-time donours was twice as high among self-excluders than among those who released their blood for subsequent donation.

Of a total of 5.6 million blood donations by 1.6 million German Red Cross donors between July, 1985 and December, 1987 tested for HIV antibodies 210 were found to be positive in at least one Western blot. Calculated per quarter, the prevalence (for first-time donors) of 10 per 100,000 in 1985 decreased to 4 per 100,000 in 1986, while the incidence (for multiple donors) was a constant 2 per 100,000 for each quarter in 1987. This indicates that new HIV infections were rare in blood donors and there was no exponential increase. Further analysis revealed that over 90% of those with confirmed Western blot positive results were members of risk groups or their direct contacts. The age and sex distribution conformed to the known pattern for AIDS cases in the Federal Republic of Germany. The data demonstrate that there is at present no indication of a rapid spread of HIV infections transmitted heterosexually among blood donors.

Since 1985 all donor blood in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and West Berlin (WB) have been routinely tested for HIV antibodies. The blood donor services of the German and Bavarian Red Cross have pooled their anti-HIV test data for the first year of operation (July 1985-June 1986) to obtain information on the prevalence of HIV antibodies in blood donors and in donated blood. Of 2.27 million units of blood, donated by 1.33 million donors, 218 were anti-HIV positive in the Western Blot Test, i.e. a prevalence rate of 10 per 100,000 donors. The prevalence was, as expected, higher in males than females. During the test period the anti-HIV prevalence fell, both as a total and in all subpopulations. In the second quarter of 1986 it had decreased to 6 per 100,000 donated units.

1160 stool specimens, from 160 severely immunocompromised patients, from 70 adults and 180 children with acute diarrhoea and from 60 controls without diarrhoea and without evidence of immunocompromising underlying disorders, were examined for Cryptosporidium excretion. Only two children (1.1%) (one with previous contact to a straying cat and to lambs, the other without known risk) had documented intestinal cryptosporidiosis, whereas none of the symptomatic adults, immunocompromised patients or controls were found to be positive for Cryptosporidium fecal excretion. Other potential protozoal enteric pathogens among immunocompromised patients were only found in seven of 25 patients with HIV infection. We conclude that sporadic intestinal cryptosporidiosis in Southern Germany is a rare disease in humans even of younger age, but should be included in the differential diagnosis of diarrhoea in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients.

The modern development of pediatric gynecology is outlined. The special requirements of children in this respect and the education of doctors for the subspecialty are discussed. Aims and organisation of the German working group are presented. Some data and experiences of an outpatient clinic are given.

Sera of 1731 blood donors of the Ulm blood bank were screened for cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibodies. Prevalence of these antibodies was 37%. The seroconversion rate among 1090 anti-CMV-negative blood donors was 13 per thousand per year for the whole donor population over a period of 27 months and depended on age. It was 16 per thousand per year for donors aged 18-40 years, but only 7 per thousand for those over 41 years old. Seropositivity was higher in women than men. To provide anti-CMV-negative blood requires a prescreened anti-CMV-negative donor group and the rescreening of each further donated blood component.

Only persons who die within 30 days after an accident are primarily considered accident fatalities. This arbitrary deadline has considerable legal consequences, especially for health insurance companies. Advances in the immediate and optimal treatment for persons injured in traffic accidents at the site of the accident, as well as improvement in surgical techniques, have increased the number of fatalities, with the injured surviving for more than 30 days after the accident. An analysis of reports showed that about 5%-16% of deaths by accident survived the fatal accident for more than 30 days, so the arbitrary deadline of 30 days clearly needs to be revised.