[Syphilis therapy--results of an inquiry].

In order to get some more information about the kind of treatment of syphilis in the F.R.G. a study among the 1578 practising dermatologists (without members of hospital staff) by means of questionaires was made. 1164 (79%) answered the inquiry. The study shows that nearly 50% of the answering dermatologists treat syphilis by several series of penicillin applications. On the other side, only one third of the respective dermatologists performs treatment by one series, giving penicillin from 15 to 21 Mega units. The study shows that the kind of therapy is rather age-dependend insofar as the older dermatologists prefer the multiple therapy series scheme, whereas the younger dermatologists are inclined to use the single series scheme. Furthermore geographical differences could be shown, e.g. most of the Bavarian dermatologists use the single series scheme. The kind of penicillin, way of application and the time intervals were rather uniform related to regions and schemes of therapy. Tetracycline and Erythromycin are used in case of penicillin allergy. In the opinion of less than 50% of dermatologists additional redications are necessary, whereby the younger ones prefere corticosteroides, the older ones potassium iodide. The benefits of uniformly performed therapy of syphilis by the single series scheme are discussed.