Chvostek sign (hypocalcemia)

Last revised by Vikas Shah on 5 Jan 2019

Chvostek sign (also known as Chvostek-Weiss sign or Schultze sign 1) is the facial twitch obtained by tapping the distribution of the facial nerve in front of the tragus. It is caused by mechanical irritability of peripheral nerves. It is indicative of hypocalcemia and is the most reliable test for hypocalcemia.

History and etymology

The sign is named for Franz Chvostek, an Austrian surgeon, who first described the sign in 1876 2.

It is also named after Austrian physician, Nathan Weiss (1851-1883) and German neurologist Friedrich Schultze 1

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