[Hans Asperger and his patients--a retrospective examination of the spectrum of autistic disorders].

In 1944 the Viennese paediatrician Hans Asperger described for the first time a number of boys with so-called "autistic psychopathy" but failed to give a detailed quantitative-descriptive phenomenology of the condition. The aim of this second part of a retrospective analysis of the clinical case records of children diagnosed by Asperger and his team is to provide a quantitative, in-depth description of these children, as well as to investigate Asperger's idea of a transition from autistic psychopathic personality traits towards "normality". We examined 181 case records of children seen between 1950 and 1986 who were either clearly diagnosed with autistic psychopathy (AP) or showed autistic features (AZ). Consequently, features common to both the AP and AZ groups and the differences between them are described and compared to the current ICD-10 criteria for Asperger's syndrome. Children with AZ shared the high intelligence, the social handicap and the impairment of "instincts", but showed less severe symptoms and more distinct skills, as well as fewer co-morbid disorders than children with AP. Results suggest that there is indeed something like an "autistic phenotype" with certain deficits and assets that can be found in less handicapped children with autistic impairments. The current ICD-10 criteria do not seem to fully capture Asperger's original account of the syndrome and should be discussed anew if Asperger's syndrome is reconsidered for inclusion into diagnostic criteria in the future.