For several decades the unsolved etiogenetic and therapeutic problems of
multiple sclerosis have offered the strongest challenge to research in
neu- rology. The hope of decisive theoretical and practical progress
increased when an experimental model presenting far-reaching conformity
of structural and pathogenetic features was developed, namely chronic
re- lapsing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (CREAE). During the
past years, Dr. Lassmann has contributed substantially to the adaptation
of this model with the aim of comprehensive evaluation, thoroughly fol-
lowing up his own ideas in numerous studies of individual aspects. The
new possibility of continuous and detailed investigation of the
clinical, morphological and immunological characteristics of temporal
phase sequence of autoimmune demyelination has led to many new findings,
corrections offormer hypotheses, and, from correlated studies of human
multiple sclerosis, a series of important data concerning, for example,
early manifestations of demyelination, the range of so-called acute mul-
tiple sclerosis and the incidence of remyelination. Moreover, Dr. Lass-
mann has analysed several special problems which became definable in the
course of his own studies or in collaboration with other groups, in-
cluding the initial distribution of demyelinated foci, the cerebrospinal
fluid phenomena and immunological findings in the nervous tissue. The
results of these separate studies also led to a deeper understanding of
demyelinating processes. This monograph integrates these studies and
summarizes their re- sults.