Present States and Problems in Neurology Clinic in Yamaguchi University Hospital

Records of outpatients who had visited our neurology clinic in 1984 and 1985 were investigated concerning number and percentage of each disease. Total number of patients were 856('84) and 743('85) and the number of patients who had first vitited in '84 or '85 were 416 and 403 respectively. Number of epilepsy was 251 and 151 in total, and 44 and 22 of first visited patients in each year. The first 5 most common diseases were peripheral neuropathy, headache, cerebrovascular disease, myopathy and myelopathy in '85. Both number and variety of neurological diseases have markedly increased in these two years. The present problems of neurology clinic are as follows. 1) The term ”neurological medicine” is only poorly understood even by medical staffs in Yamaguchi prefecture. 2) Neurology clinic must be separated from psychiatry clinic because many patients of internal medicine will visit our clinic and more precise investigation technique will be needed in the near future. 3) Patients of chronic and untreatable diseases are not properly cared because of immature medical care system.