[Central nervous system damage after decompression accidents (author's transl)].

An increasing number of decompression accidents can be observed due to increasing popularity of diving and due to ignorance of its dangers. Permanent neurological damage is a frequent consequence of insufficient availability of treatment at the site of the accident. A 39-year-old man with a decompression accident showed the broad neurological symptomatology caused by multitopic lesions of the central nervous system. Apart from well known spinal symptoms manifold cerebral manifestations occurred. Mental and in particular neuropsychological defects could be observed beyond the purely neurological symptomatology.