Beevor's sign

Beevor's sign is the movement of the navel towards the head on flexing the neck.[1] It is caused by weakness of the lower abdominal muscles.

Pathophysiology

Beevor’s sign is characteristic of spinal cord injury between T6 and T10 levels. This occurs because the upper abdominal muscle such as the Rectus Abdominus are intact at the top of the abdomen but weak at the lower portion. Thus when the patient is asked to do a sit up only the upper muscles contract pulling the umbilicus toward the head in patients who are abnormal. It has also been described in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.[2]

History

Named after Charles Edward Beevor, English neurologist (1854–1908).[3]

References

  1. ^ Pearce JM (2005). "Beevor's sign". Eur. Neurol. 53 (4): 208–9. doi:10.1159/000086731. PMID 16015010. http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?typ=fulltext&file=ENE2005053004208. 
  2. ^ Awerbuch GI, Nigro MA, Wishnow R (November 1990). "Beevor's sign and facioscapulohumeral dystrophy". Arch. Neurol. 47 (11): 1208–9. PMID 2146943. 
  3. ^ Tashiro K (July 2001). "Charles Edward Beevor (1854-1908)". J. Neurol. 248 (7): 635–6. doi:10.1007/s004150170149. PMID 11518013. http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00415/bibs/1248007/12480635.htm. 
CNS
Head, general
Other
PNS
Combination
Lower limb
Upper limb
Other torso/limbs
Upper limb
Lower limb
Torso
Beevor's sign
General
Mental/behavioral

M: CNS

anat(n/s/m/p/4/e/b/d/c/a/f/l/g)/phys/devp

noco(m/d/e/h/v/s)/cong/tumr, sysi/epon, injr

proc, drug(N1A/2AB/C/3/4/7A/B/C/D)

M: PNS

anat(h/r/t/c/b/l/s/a)/phys(r)/devp/prot/nttr/nttm/ntrp

noco/auto/cong/tumr, sysi/epon, injr

proc, drug(N1B)

M: PSO/PSI

mepr

dsrd (o, p, m, p, a, d, s), sysi/epon, spvo

proc(eval/thrp), drug(N5A/5B/5C/6A/6B/6D)