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Brudziński's sign or a Brudziński sign is any of three medical signs, all of which may occur in meningitis or meningism.All three are named after Józef Brudziński. [1] In English, the name is often written without the diacritic (like many borrowed words) (Brudzinski) and is pronounced / b r uː ˈ dʒ ɪ n s k i /.
Meningism is a set of symptoms similar to those of meningitis but not caused by meningitis. [1] [3] [4] Whereas meningitis is inflammation of the meninges (membranes that cover the central nervous system), meningism is caused by nonmeningitic irritation of the meninges, usually associated with acute febrile illness, [1] [2] especially in children and adolescents. [2]
Eponymous medical signs are those that are named after a person or persons, usually the physicians who first described them, but occasionally named after a famous patient. This list includes other eponymous entities of diagnostic significance; i.e. tests, reflexes, etc.
In a person with a positive Kernig's sign, pain limits passive extension of the knee. A positive Brudzinski's sign occurs when flexion of the neck causes involuntary flexion of the knee and hip. Although Kernig's sign and Brudzinski's sign are both commonly used to screen for meningitis, the sensitivity of these tests is limited.
Today, his name is lent to four eponymous medical signs associated with reflexes observed in meningitis. Brudziński's neck sign: With the patient lying on his back and the neck is bent forward, reflective flexion of the knees take place. Brudziński's symphyseal sign: Pressure over symphysis pubis leads to knee, hip flexion and leg abduction.
A pathognomonic sign or symptom has very high positive predictive value and high specificity but does not need to have high sensitivity: for example it can sometimes be absent in a certain disease, since the term only implies that, when it is present, the doctor instantly knows the patient's illness.
Kernig's sign is a test used in physical examination to look for evidence of irritation of the meninges. The test involves flexing the thighs at the hip, and the knees, at 90 degree angles, and assessing whether subsequent extension of the knee is painful (leading to resistance), in which case it is deemed positive. [ 1 ]
Leukocytosis need not be extreme and in fact leukopenia may be seen and it is a very poor prognostic sign. C-reactive protein levels can be elevated or almost normal. Thrombocytopenia is sometimes extreme, with alteration in prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) suggestive of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC).