New complaints of patients after poliomyelitis following after decades of a stabilized condition are described by the term postpoliomyelitic syndrome (PPS). They affect at least half the patients after poliomyelitis. The best defined picture from a broad spectrum of new complaints is so-called progressive postpoliomyelitic atrophy (PPMA). The authors review contemporary knowledge of the etiopathogenesis of PPS and PPMA and their possible therapy.