[Presymptomatic DNA diagnosis in Huntington's chorea: reactions to the certainty of not being a genetic carrier].

Presymptomatic DNA diagnostics in Huntington's chorea make it possible to establish with approx. 98% certainty whether an at-risk person is a gene carrier. Sympathy and care are usually shown to those demonstrated to have the gene and so will become affected in the future. Persons shown not to be carriers sometimes do not experience the expected relief. The authors successively discuss the effects of a favourable finding on the family system, such as survivor's guilt and emotional numbing as aspects of a coping process. It is concluded that even a favourable finding needs to be worked through, a process that takes years rather than months.