Digiti quinti sign

From Neurosigns
Revision as of 21:18, 21 November 2016 by Master (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Jump to: navigation, search
A positive digiti quinti sign on the left
Abduction of the small finger on the side of a hemiparesis with the hands outstretched in drift position. The digiti quinti sign is one of the subtle signs of hemiparesis; others include pronator drift, impaired forearm and finger rolling, decreased arm swing when walking and impaired fine motor control. The digiti quinti sign is related to the finger escape sign and to myelopathy hand. This patient with cervical spondylotic myelopathy has a digiti quinti sign on the left.

A tendency to abduct the small finger also occurs in ulnar neuropathy (Wartenberg’s sign) but is completely unrelated.

References

Alter M. The digiti quinti sign of mild hemiparesis. Neurology 1973;23:503-5

Ono, K., K. Okada, and T. Fuji. "Finger escape sign (FES), an objective sign signifying pyramidal tract involvement of the cervical spinal cord." Orthop Trans 6.2 (1982): 181.

Ono, K, Ebara, S, Fuji, T, et al. Myelopathy hand. New clinical signs of cervical cord damage. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 1987; 69:215-219.