Westphal's sign

Patellar tendon reflex arc

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.

It is named for Karl 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

References

↑ synd/945 at Who Named It?
↑ 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

Eponymous medical signs for infectious disease

Bacterial disease	syphilis Hutchinson's teeth Hutchinson's triad Abelin reaction Westphal's sign Clutton's joints Dennie-Marfan syndrome

Viral disease	measles Koplik's spots Warthin-Finkeldey cell yellow fever Councilman body Tzanck test Inclusion bodies: poxvirus Downie bodies/A Guarnieri bodies/B rabies Negri bodies Cowdry bodies Liebermeister's rule Faget sign

Parasitic disease	Chagas disease (Romana's sign) African trypanosomiasis (Winterbottom's sign) malaria (Schüffner's dots)

Eponymous medical signs for nervous system

CNS

Head, general	Battle's sign Broca aphasia Kernig's sign Macewen's sign Myerson's sign Stroop test Wada test Dix-Hallpike test Hirano body

Multiple sclerosis	Dawson's fingers Lhermitte's sign Charcot's neurologic triad Uhthoff's phenomenon

Other	Romberg's test increased intracranial pressure Cushing's triad Miller Fisher test

PNS

Reflexes of extremities/
corticospinal tract

Combination	Jendrassik maneuver

Lower limb	Babinski sign Chaddock reflex Oppenheim's sign Westphal's sign

Upper limb	Hoffmann's sign

Other torso/limbs

Upper limb	Froment's sign carpal tunnel syndrome Tinel sign Phalen maneuver

Lower limb	Abadie's sign of tabes dorsalis Gowers' sign Hoover's sign Lasègue's sign Trendelenburg's sign

Torso	Beevor's sign

General	Todd's paresis Jolly's test

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