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This article discusses the life and career of Alfred A. Strauss, a neurologist and psychiatrist who was forced to emigrate multiple times due to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi regime. Strauss began his medical studies in Germany and later worked in Spain and Switzerland before eventually settling in the United States. He made significant contributions to the field of neurology, particularly in the study of brain-injured children and learning disabilities. Despite facing challenges and discrimination, Strauss's career flourished, and he became a respected figure in the field. [Extracted from the article]

Hoefer likely benefited from continuously being in one institution and not being uprooted like he had been a decade earlier; Putnam left Columbia in 1947 and Houston Merritt took over as head of the Institute in 1948, but Hoefer stayed there [[8]]. Hoefer had known Merritt also since Boston, and Merritt provided an affidavit for Hoefer's 1939 American naturalization [[9]]; thus, he likely supported Hoefer. Keywords: Paul Friedrich Adam Hoefer; Neurologist refugee; History of neurology EN Paul Friedrich Adam Hoefer Neurologist refugee History of neurology 6181 6183 3 10/13/22 20221101 NES 221101 Some recent articles have explored the fates of pioneering neuroscientists who were displaced from pre-World War II Germany, including Munich's Felix Plaut [[1]]. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Ulnar neuropathy at the elbow (UNE) is the second most common entrapment neuropathy. Our goal was to create and analyze a grading system for UNE electrodiagnostic severity. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed EMG reports with UNE. We then classified 112 limbs as having mild, moderate, or severe grade UNE based on electrodiagnostic findings. The association between presenting symptoms and signs, EMG findings, treatment type, and electrodiagnostic grade was statistically analyzed. Results: Seventeen limbs (15.2%) had mild, 80 (71.4%) had moderate, and 15 (13.4%) had severe UNE. Symptoms (P =.016), exam findings (P <.001), and treatment type (P =.043) were significantly associated with electrodiagnostic grade. Discussion Our UNE grading system was significantly related to symptoms, physical exam, and treatment selection and may be useful to measure electrodiagnostic severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At least 9 neuroscientists immigrated from Nazi Europe to Illinois to escape tyranny and attempt to re-establish their careers. Some work has been published in print on eponymous neuroscientist Adolf Wallenberg, as well as 2 others but not on Ernst Haase, Frederick Hiller, Erich Liebert, Bruno Volk, Heinz (Henry) von Witzleben, or Gerhard Pisk. Before leaving Germany or Austria, these downtrodden specialists were dismissed from long-held posts sometimes for trumped-up charges, stripped of their financial security, and forced to leave relatives behind. At least 1 left only for personal and political, but not because of racial, reasons. Illinois, in exemplary fashion, welcomed these unfortunate survivors more than many other states because of limited licensing requirements, numerous opportunities at state hospitals, and special internship programs. Some of them successfully continued their research agendas and published, taught neurology students and trainees, and added to the expansion of neurologic care in Illinois or elsewhere, but most of them took years to reacquire the academic rank they lost and never regained their career momentum. These refugees survived and passed on some of their extensive training and expertise to a new generation of neuroscientists in America, but not without significant cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Felix Plaut was born on July 7, 1877 in Kassel, Germany [[1]]. Plaut characterized neuropsychiatric features of syphilitic infection, and described "Plaut's hallucinosis" [[6]] while investigating disease pathogenesis. In October 1935, Plaut was suspended by letter from acting institute director Ernst Rüdin, who had replaced Spielmeyer in 1931. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: Prior studies have demonstrated superiority of the combined sensory index (CSI) algorithm in diagnosing mild carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and have compared presenting symptoms to CTS grade. However, CTS symptoms, signs, and outcomes, including CSI-diagnosed cases, have not been compared with CTS grade.Methods: We retrospectively studied 294 CTS hands from 2010 to 2013; stratified them into mild, moderate, and severe grades; and analyzed the association between CTS grade and presenting symptoms/signs and outcomes.Results: Sensorimotor symptoms (P = 0.017) and signs (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with CTS grade. Regardless of CTS grade, 94% of hands improved with surgery compared with 42% with conservative treatment (P < 0.001). Even in mild CTS, 100% improved with surgery vs. 33% with conservative management (P = 0.011).Discussion: These results corroborate prior studies that compared symptoms to CTS grade and suggest that more objective signs associate even better. CTS grades associate with outcomes, but additional studies are required. Muscle Nerve 57: 45-48, 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A response by Lawrence A. Zeidman and colleagues to a letter to the editor about the article regarding Hans Berger's ties to the Third Reich and the actions of physicians during the Nazi era published in the "Journal of Child Neurology" is presented.

Approximately 9,000 physicians were uprooted for so-called “racial” or “political” reasons by the Nazi regime and 6,000 fled Germany. These refugees are often seen as survivors who contributed to a “brain drain” from Germany. About 432 doctors (all specialties, private and academic) were dismissed from the major German city of Hamburg. Of these, 16 were Hamburg University faculty members dismissed from their government-supported positions for “racial” reasons, and, of these, five were neuroscientists. In a critical analysis, not comprehensively done previously, we will demonstrate that the brain drain did not equal a “brain gain.” The annihilation of these five neuroscientists’ careers under different but similar auspices, their shameful harassment and incarceration, financial expropriation by Nazi ransom techniques, forced migration, and roadblocks once reaching destination countries stalled and set back any hopes of research and quickly continuing once-promising careers. A major continuing challenge is finding ways to repair an open wound and obvious vacuum in the German neuroscience community created by the largely collective persecution of colleagues 80 years ago. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Austrian neuroscientist Josef Gerstmann, well known for describing Gerstmann syndrome and for pioneering works on tactile agnosia, also co-described the familial prion disorder later known as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease. In 1938, Nazi Germany annexed Austria (the “Anschluss”) and the three-time decorated war veteran Gerstmann was dismissed from his professorship in Vienna because of his “race.” In 1942, he unknowingly had his doctorate stripped, only to have it returned in 1955. The Gerstmann properties were seized in Vienna, resulting in a bitter postwar reclamation battle. Gerstmann immigrated to the United States quickly after the annexation and had some success in exile but never again directed a hospital. He maintained a private practice throughout his exile and, in the 1940s, had some research and consulting positions in New York. More than 75 years after theAnschluss, many questions remain unanswered about Gerstmann’s forced exile and the impact of becoming a refugee on his life and career. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dutch neuroscientist Cornelius Ubbo Ariëns Kappers is famous for pioneering neuroembryological work and for establishing the Amsterdam Central Institute for Brain Research. Less well known is his anthropological work, which ultimately played a role in saving Dutch Jews from deportation to their deaths during the Holocaust. Ariëns Kappers extensively campaigned against anti-Semitism and Nazi persecution during the 1930s. During World War II, he utilized his credentials to help create anthropological reports “proving” full-Jews were “actually” partial- or non-Jews to evade Nazi criteria, and at least 300 Jews were thus saved by Ariëns Kappers and colleagues. His earlier work demonstrating differences between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewish skull indices became the focus of an attempt to save hundreds of Dutch Portuguese Jews collectively from deportation. Ariëns Kappers and colleagues brilliantly understood how anthropology and neuroscience could be utilized to make a difference and to save lives during a tragic era. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hans Berger was a German neuropsychiatrist and head of the neurology department at the University of Jena, who discovered the human electroencephalogram (EEG). Many sources state that Berger was forced into retirement and suicide by the Nazis because he was at odds with the regime. In fact, Berger helped select his Nazi successor Berthold Kihn (complicit in “euthanasia” murders), financially supported the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS), and was a willing participant on Nazi genetic health higher courts that reviewed appeals for forced sterilizations of neuropsychiatric patients. His motivations could be related to avoiding Nazi harassment, indoctrination by Nazi ideology, or less likely, career opportunism. His actions stand in contrast to colleagues who partially resisted the Nazis, and hopefully will serve as an example to future generations of neurologists regarding the danger of allowing one’s professional standing to be used as a tool to support the policies of tyranny and oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Walther Birkmayer, an Austrian neurologist, codiscovered the efficacy of levodopa therapy for Parkinsonism in 1961. However, little has been published regarding Birkmayer’s ties to National Socialism. Through documentary review, we have determined that he was an early illegal member of the SS and the Nazi party, taking part in the “de-Jewification” of the Vienna University Clinic of Psychiatry and Neurology. He also was a leader in the Nazi racial policy office and was praised for his dedication and fanaticism despite being forced to later resign from the SS. He sought support from leading Viennese Nazis, and was able to maintain his professional status for the war’s remainder. Postwar, he succeeded at reintegration personally and professionally into Austrian society, all but erasing any obvious ties to his Nazi past. His story reflects ethical transgressions regarding professional and personal behavior in response to a tyrannical regime and provides lessons for today’s neuroscientists. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Peter Becker was a German neurologist who helped classify the muscular dystrophies, and described Becker muscular dystrophy and Becker myotonia. His involvement in National Socialism began in 1933, when he was compelled by his peers to join the SA (brown shirts). He later joined the Nazi party, the Nazi Doctors Association, and the Nazi Lecturers’ Association. He renewed his SA membership to maintain his position at a genetics institute. Colleagues stated postwar that he was not an active Nazi, and he was de-Nazified in 1947, able to continue his career. Later, Becker admitted to most, but not all, of his Nazi memberships in his autobiography, and wrote 2 books exploring the origins of Nazism and racial hygiene. The “neurologic court of opinion” must weigh in on how we should best remember Becker, and at the very least, we as neurologists must learn the dangers of career opportunism at any cost. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been a movement to rename Hallervorden–Spatz disease to pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration given Hallervorden and Spatz’s complicity in murderous Nazi programs. Similar controversy surrounds Reiter syndrome, and 2 studies demonstrated decreased unqualified use of that eponym in the literature, but not in textbooks. There have been no similar studies regarding Hallervorden–Spatz disease. The authors performed a MEDLINE search (1990-2010) looking for unqualified use of Hallervorden–Spatz disease and performed statistical analysis. They defined “unqualified” as having no reference to the eponym’s disfavored use. They then looked in 6 neurology textbooks. The authors identified 156 of 278 articles (56.1%) containing unqualified use of Hallervorden–Spatz disease. But there was a declining trend (P = .000), with 70/80 (87.5%) of articles from 1990 to 1999 and 86/198 (43.4%) from 2000 to 2010. There was also decreased unqualified use of the eponyms in textbooks, with all recent editions using pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration instead. The significant decrease in unqualified use of Hallervorden–Spatz disease is reassuring. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT: Johannes Pompe is famous for describing type II glycogenosis, Pompe disease. However, Pompe's participation in the Dutch resistance during World War II has not been well described in the neurology literature. Pompe saved many Jews by hiding them as patients, saved a Jewish boy who was a neighbor, hid many young resistance fighters in his laboratory, resisted the Nazi call for all Dutch doctors to submit to their puppet physician's chamber, and hid a radio transmitter in the animal room of his laboratory. He was executed by firing squad in a German reprisal shortly before the end of the war. Pompe's patriotism and religious and humanitarian values seem to have been the basis for his actions. His heroic and tragic story should not be forgotten and should serve as an example to all during such dark times. Muscle Nerve 46: 134-138, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Guillain-Barré syndrome, or acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy, and immune thrombocytopenic purpura are both autoimmune disorders thought to result from molecular mimicry in response to an antecedent introduction of foreign antigen. Guillain-Barré syndrome is an ascending motor paralysis that can lead to respiratory compromise. Immune thrombocytopenic purpura is an isolated disorder of platelet destruction leading to mucocutaneous bleeding. Guillain-Barré does not typically occur with other autoimmune disorders, and concurrent Guillain-Barré and immune thrombocytopenic purpura has only rarely been reported. We present a patient with both conditions who experienced prompt resolution of neurologic and hematologic sequelae after intravenous immunoglobulin therapy was initiated within 12 hours of presentation. The case provides further evidence that Guillain-Barré syndrome and immune thrombocytopenic purpura can occur simultaneously, possibly caused by a similar pathogenic mechanism, as well as suggesting that the prompt initiation of intravenous immunoglobulin is an effective monotherapy leading to prompt resolution of both conditions and prevention of further sequelae. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Introduction: Causes of small-fiber peripheral neuropathies (SFN) are often undefined. In this study we investigated associations of serum autoantibodies, immunoglobulin G (IgG) vs fibroblast growth factor receptor-3 (FGFR-3), and immunoglobulin M (IgM) vs trisulfated heparan disaccharide (TS-HDS) in cryptogenic SFN.Methods: One hundred fifty-five patients with biopsy-proven SFN and no identified cause for their neuropathy were blindly tested for serum IgM vs TS-HDS and IgG vs FGFR-3.Results: Forty-eight percent of SFN patients had serum antibodies, 37% with IgM vs TS-HDS and 15% with IgG vs FGFR-3. TS-HDS antibodies were more frequent in SFN patients than in controls (P = .0012). Both antibodies were more common in females, and with non-length-dependent nerve pathology. Nintey-two percent of patients with acute-onset SFN had serum IgM vs TS-HDS.Discussion: Autoantibodies directed against TS-HDS and FGFR-3 suggest an immune disorder in otherwise idiopathic SFN. Serum IgM vs TS-HDS may be a marker for SFN with an acute onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]