[Familial spastic spinal paralysis--clinical spectrum and differential diagnostic considerations]

The familial spastic paraplegia is a rare disorder of the cerebral nervous system characterized by a slowly progressive spasticity of the lower limbs with early or late onset. There are pure and complicated forms. The disease is inherited by an autosomal dominant mode and a recessive one. In this study 6 patients out of 5 families are presented. The clinical variety, genetic aspects, electrophysiological results and differential diagnosis are discussed.