2,834 results
Article
Boas sign
Boas sign is a clinical sign that is defined as hyperesthesia felt by the patient to light touch in the right lower scapular region or the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. It is classically seen in patients with acute cholecystitis.
History and etymology
Ismar Isidor Boas (1858–1938), was ...
Article
Matterhorn sign
The Matterhorn sign is a descriptive sign for a calcified disc herniation that impales the dural sac and sometimes the cord, typically located in the thoracic spine.
History and etymology
This sign is named after one of the most iconic mountains in the Alps: the Matterhorn.
Article
Obturator sign
Obturator sign is a clinical sign of acute appendicitis, it is defined as discomfort felt by the subject/patient on the slow internal movement of the hip joint, while the right knee is flexed. It indicates an inflamed pelvic appendix that is in contact with the obturator internus muscle 1-3.
Se...
Article
Trousseau sign
Trousseau sign of latent tetany (not to be confused with Trousseau syndrome) is highly specific for hypocalcemia 1. It may be elicited by placing a blood pressure cuff over the upper arm and inflating to above systolic pressure for 2-3 minutes. This reduces arterial supply to the forearm. The is...
Article
Cervicothoracic sign
The cervicothoracic sign is a variation of the silhouette sign on frontal chest radiography used to determine whether a superior (para)mediastinal soft tissue mass is anterior or posterior to the trachea.
A positive cervicothoracic sign occurs when a thoracic lesion contacts the neck or extends...
Article
Blumberg sign
Blumberg sign is defined as discomfort on the manual application of tension over the abdomen observed by simultaneously watching the subjects face. On the removal of the examiner's hand the patient should be again asked whether he or she is feeling pain or not. It is expressive of peritoneal irr...
Article
Shmoo sign
Shmoo sign refers to the appearance of a prominent, rounded left ventricle and dilated aorta on a plain PA chest radiograph giving the appearance of Shmoo, a fictional cartoon character in the comic strip Li'l Abner, which first appeared in 1948 5. This sign is indicative of left ventricular enl...
Article
Tau sign
The tau sign represents the appearance of a persistent primitive trigeminal artery on the sagittal plane of an angiogram or on sagittal MRI images. It resembles the Greek letter τ, pronounced "tau", and is equivalent to the modern-day "T" in the Latin alphabet.
The persistent trigeminal artery ...
Article
Drop sign
The drop sign is referred to as an increased ulnohumeral distance (≥4 mm) on a lateral radiograph of the elbow after reduction of elbow dislocation and indicates instability 1-4.
History and etymology
The drop sign was first described in 2005 by Ralph W Coonrad (fl. 2020), an orthopedic surgeo...
Article
Cluster sign
The cluster sign is a finding on MRI and CT that is associated with pyogenic hepatic abscesses and can help differentiate pyogenic abscesses from other types of liver lesions.
Radiographic features
The cluster sign is best seen on MRI T2-weighted and postcontrast T1-weighted sequences. Small n...
Article
Popeye sign
Popeye sign is a pronounced bulging muscle in the distal aspect of the biceps region of the arm. It is clinically apparent with a complete long head of biceps tendon tear which causes distal migration of the long head of biceps muscle.
History and etymology
Defined by the distal migration of...
Article
Lemon sign
The lemon sign, noted on antenatal imaging, is one of the many notable fruit-inspired signs. It is a feature when there appears to be an indentation of the frontal bone (depicting that of a lemon). It is classically seen as a sign of a Chiari II malformation and also seen in the majority (90-98%...
Article
Satellite sign
The satellite sign is a radiological sign seen on non-contrast CT of the brain in the setting of intracerebral hemorrhage, and refers to a small hemorrhage adjacent to, and separate from, the main hematoma. It is a predictor of hemorrhage expansion.
Epidemiology
The satellite sign can be seen...
Article
Kernig sign
Kernig sign is one of the eponymous clinical signs of meningitis or meningism. This is a common test and is typically performed while the patient is supine with the hips flexed. It is described as resistance to or pain with passive extension of the knees in cases of suspected meningitis 1-3.
Ke...
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Hellmer sign
Hellmer sign is a radiographic finding depicting medial displacement of the lateral edge of the liver from the peritoneal wall. It was originally described as a pathognomonic sign of ascites. However, this displacement can also be caused by intraperitoneal fat, extraperitoneal free fluid or a ma...
Article
Palla sign
Palla sign is a sign seen on chest radiographs suggestive of pulmonary embolism, usually seen in the acute setting.
Although uncommon, it can be seen along with several other described signs of pulmonary embolus on chest radiography.
Pathology
Palla sign describes an enlarged right descending...
Article
Rovsing sign
Rovsing sign is commonly used to describe pain elicited in the right iliac fossa on deep palpation of the left iliac fossa.
It is used in clinical examination to detect peritoneal irritation in the right iliac fossa, most frequently associated with acute appendicitis. Most teaching erroneously...
Article
Sliding sign
The sliding sign is a dynamic sonographic sign performed during transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) of women with suspected pelvic endometriosis. The loss of the normal sliding sign indicates pouch of Douglas (POD) obliteration due to adhesions and is suggestive of deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE...
Article
Wimberger sign
The Wimberger sign, also called Wimberger corner sign, refers to localized bilateral metaphyseal destruction of the medial proximal tibias. It is a pathognomonic sign of congenital syphilis.
The term must not be mistaken for the Wimberger ring sign seen in scurvy, as both entities are often con...
Article
Westermark sign
Westermark sign is a sign of pulmonary embolus seen on chest radiographs. It is one of several described signs of pulmonary embolus on chest radiographs.
Pathology
The theory behind the sign is either obstruction of the pulmonary artery or distal vasoconstriction in hypoxic lung 3.
In one stu...