Westphal's sign

Westphal's sign is the clinical correlate of the absence or decrease of patellar reflex or knee jerk. Patellar reflex or knee jerk is a kind of deep or stretch reflex where an application of a stimulus to the patellar tendon such as strike by a solid object or hammer caused the leg to extend due to such stimulus causes the quadriceps femoris muscle to contract.

Westphal's sign
Patellar tendon reflex arc
Differential diagnosisPeripheral nerve disease, Motor cortex lesion

It is named for Carl Friedrich Otto Westphal (1833-1890).[1][2]

Associated conditions

Westphal's sign has a clinical significance used in determining neurodisorders or diseases such as:

  • receptor damage, peripheral nerve disease, involving the dorsal(sensory) columns of the spinal cord and cerebellar lesions
  • lesions present within the motor cortex of the brain or the pyramidal tracts which it combined with muscular spasms
  • complete interruption of sensory and/or motor impulse transmission in the femoral nerve
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References
  1. synd/945 at Who Named It?
  2. C. F. O. Westphal. Über einige durch mechanische Einwirkung auf Sehnen und Muskeln hervorgebrachte Bewegungs-Erscheinungen. Archiv für Psychiatrie und Nervenkrankheiten, Berlin, 1875, 5: 803-834.
  • The Principles of Physiology Jensen, David Ph.D., Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York.1976
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