Our work focuses mainly on the outpatient care of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). At the onset of the disease, the focus is on establishing the diagnosis or confirming the suspected diagnosis formulated elsewhere. Since ALS can follow a very varied disease course with varying prognosis affected patients are informed and counselled about the individual features of their disease, assessment of their prognosis and treatment options. Depending on the severity of the ALS, treatment options are a central topic and may be organised in conjunction with outpatient partners. Optimal drug treatment, diet and respiratory aid along with communication aids are the priorities. For some ALS patients we are able to provide medications which are not yet licensed for ordinary treatment and are being investigated in the framework of clinical studies. Numerous social aspects arise from ALS and other motor neuron diseases, which cannot be illustrated because of their extent and the required sociolegal competence in our outpatient department. We provide contact with social and care workers for assistance with the complex questions of social and care provision. Our outpatient clinic also involves consideration of maximum treatment including dietary and ventilation treatment compared to possible limits to treatment and palliative care.

The ALS outpatient clinic takes place 4 days a week. Mondays are designed for the first visit by patients from Berlin, Brandenburg and adjacent regions, and supraregional patients are given appointments in the Wednesday clinic. The majority of review appointments are on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Study patients are given appointments on all days of the week depending on the study protocols and travel conditions.

On certain days (Wednesdays and Thursdays), appointments are made for patients with spastic spinal paresis (SSP), hereditary spastic paraparesis (HSP), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and other motor neuron diseases. During these clinics, medical consultation is possible for diagnosis, prognosis and symptomatic treatment options. This medical support constitutes normal care and currently does not involve any basic science research or therapy studies.

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