Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Paul W. Brazis, MD
Professor of Neurology
Mayo Medical School
New York Chicago San Francisco Athens London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi Singapore Sydney Toronto
DeMyer’s The Neurologic Examination: A Programmed Text, Seventh Edition
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CONTENTS
This is the seventh edition of Dr. DeMyer’s textbook on The Neurologic Examination. It is the second
under the stewardship of the current authors. When first published in 1994, Dr. DeMyer hoped it would
fill a gap and function as a self-learning tool that combined with feedback from experienced clinicians
and practice at the bedside, would improve the diagnostic skills of a student. It was never meant to be
read, but in many respects it was a “to-do” book. It was the active doing or practicing the techniques that
Dr. DeMyer felt would engage the student and facilitate learning rather than promote memorization. As
bedside examination skills improve, ultimately patients would come to benefit.
Currently there is a tendency to undermine the benefits of the physical examination as a foundational skill
in clinical diagnosis. Various explanations are given that include limitations of time, increased sensitivity
of diagnostic tools or the fact that some physical examination skills or findings, have been shown to not be
diagnostic at all. It is certainly true that there are some physical examination practices of only historical
interest, but most of the skills in eliciting a history and a relevant physical examination remain critical to
proper diagnosis. When properly performed, they provide valuable information to an underlying disease
and interpretation of abnormal diagnostic test results often relies on physical examination findings.
Finally, the physical examination is of enormous benefit in the effective use of these diagnostic tests and
the elimination of unnecessary ones. So, far from being relegated to historical interest, these skills are as
important in the development of a clinician as they are for the patients under their care.
We want to end this preface by again acknowledging Dr. William E. DeMyer as an esteemed colleague
who demonstrated the highest qualities of a physician, master clinician, and teacher. The origin of this
book, and the current authors’ intention, is to promote the value of a thoughtful physical examination and
interpretation of those findings. We hope this book will fill such a role by becoming a virtual mentor that
facilitates learning, through performing and interpreting physical examination findings. If the directions
within this book are followed, not only will you benefit, but so will your patients and that is an ultimate
responsibility that society expects of us. We hope you enjoy this excursion and we wish you the best as
your careers unfold.
José Biller, MD
Gregory Gruener, MD
Paul W. Brazis, MD
PREFACE to the First Edition
The purpose of this textbook is threefold: (1) to teach how to conduct a neurologic examination, (2) to
review the anatomy and physiology for interpreting the examination, and (3) to show which laboratory
tests help to clarify the clinical problem. This is not a differential diagnosis text or a systematic
description of diseases.
Anyone who sets out to write a textbook should place the manuscript on one knee and a student on the
other. When the student squirms, sighs, or gives a wrong answer, the author has erred. He should correct it
right then, before the ink dries. That is the way I have written this text, on the basis of feedback from the
students.
The peril of student-on-the-knee teaching is that, even though the student moves his lips, the words and
voice remain the teacher’s. To escape from ventriloquism, my text relies strongly on self-observation and
induction. First, you learn to observe yourself, not as Narcissus, but as a sample of every man. Whenever
possible, you study living flesh, its look, its feel, and its responses. Why study a textbook picture to learn
the range of ocular movements when you can hold up a hand mirror? Why memorize the laws of diplopia
if you can do a simple experiment on yourself whenever you need to refresh your memory? In the best
tradition of science, these techniques supplant the printed word as the source of knowledge. The text
becomes a way of extending your own perceptions, of looking at the world through the eyes of experience.
Because programmed instruction is the best way for the learner to judge whether learning has taken place,
most of the text is programmed. The student is not abandoned to guess whether he has learned something;
the program makes him prove that he has. Programming, if abused or overdone, becomes incredibly dull
and unmercifully slow. The reader is required to inspect each grain of sand but should have been shown
the whole shoreline at a glance. Some programs err by bristling with objectivity, causing one to ask, “Isn’t
there a human being around here somewhere? Didn’t someone think this, decide it, maybe even guess at it
a little?” For interludes, I use quotations, anecdotes, and poetry. I even stoop to mnemonics. Sometimes I
cajole without pretending, as is customary in textbooks, that the pages have been purified, relieved of an
author. I am very much here, poking my head out of a paragraph now and then or peering at you through an
asterisk. When I see that you are weary from filling in blanks, I offer some whimsy. When you overflow
with something to say, I ask for an essay answer. Sometimes you are invited to anticipate the text, to match
wits against the problem without the spoon. At all times as you practice the neurologic examination, I
stand at your elbow, guiding your moves and interpretations. You should be able to do an accomplished
neurologic examination when you finish the book. And lastly, I include references. Only one reader in a
hundred uses them? I am interested in him, too, in his precious curiosity.
These then are the secrets: a lot of self-observation, a lot of programming, some irony and humor, a few
editorials, and occasionally a summarizing paragraph, like this one. And as the leaven, lest they vanish
from medical education, reminders of the bittersweet flowers of the mind, of tenderness, of understanding
and compassion, like this stanza from Yeats, because it is perhaps all that should preface a text like this,
into which I have poured the best teaching that I can offer; yet the wish always exceeds the result, ah me,
by far:
To the many colleagues who have shared their knowledge with me over the years, I am deeply grateful. I
especially want to thank Dr. Alexander T. Ross, my own preceptor in clinical neurology, and many friends
in the basic disciplines of neurology, Drs. Ralph Reitan, Charles Ferster, Sidney Ochs, Wolfgang Zeman,
and Jans Muller. For their day-to-day help I thank my wife, Dr. Marian DeMyer, Dr. Mark Dyken, and the
many medical students, interns, and residents who suffered through the stuttering phases of the
programming. I also thank Miss Irene Baird, who meticulously, maternally made the drawings; Mrs. Faith
Halstead, who typed and retyped the burgeoning manuscript; medical artist James Glore; and
photographer Joseph Demma.
William E. DeMyer, MD
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank my family for their support and motivation which helped to once again bring this work to a
successful completion. In particular, I wish to express endless gratitude to my wife Rhonda for her
unfailing patience.
José Biller
I want to thank my wife Catherine for making sure I spend time with our family and not just me alone with
my keyboard; our great sons, Ethan and Michael; and our new grandson Henry, who is getting ready to
follow in their footsteps.
Gregory Gruener
I would like to thank my wife and family for their continued support.
Paul W. Brazis
PREPARATION FOR THE TEXT
We assume that you know basic neuroanatomy and neurophysiology (but we review them anyway). The
text teaches the necessary mental and manual skills for the neurologic examination (NE). Your teachers,
then freed from teaching these skills by lecturing, can use precious class hours solely to examine patients
(Pts). Then, if you can go directly after classes to the clinics and wards, you have the ideal situation for
learning the NE.
At the outset, we find that students want to know just what constitutes an NE? Thus we start this text by
outlining and demonstrating a full NE. Of course, you can’t do the examination now, but you can use the
outline in two ways: (1) refer back to it at the end of each chapter, to fit what you have learned into the
total examination; (2) take it to the wards and clinics as a guide until you can wean yourself from it.
You must have on hand basic examining equipment (listed shortly) and some learning aids: colored
pencils, a hand mirror, and for Chapter 4 a 2- to 3-in. foam rubber ball. Get all the items before starting.
Do the text in order. Skipping around invites confusion because each new step presumes mastery of the
previous steps. Allow approximately one hour for each nine pages you want to study.
Because the text requires inspection of one’s self and others, study in your own living quarters, preferably
with a partner. Do all tests and make all observations called for. The doing results in active, permanent
learning by developing your own powers of observation and manual skills. Most of your education to this
point has consisted of memorizing lists or concepts compiled by someone else. Now you have to learn
how to learn directly from the Pt through your own eyes, ears, and touch. That’s what requires all of the
doing and makes this text unique.
BE Branchial efferent
BP Blood pressure
C Cervical
CAT Computerized axial tomography
Cm Centimeter
EEG Electroencephalogram
EMG Electromyography
Ex Examiner
F False
Mm Millimeters
MRA Magnetic resonance angiography
O2 Oxygen
Pt Patient
R Right
RBC Red blood cells
RF Reticular formation
S Sacral
SA Somatic afferent
T True or thoracic
V Vertical
WBC White blood cells
OUTLINE OF THE STANDARD NEUROLOGIC
EXAMINATION
The text first outlines the NE of the conscious, responsive Pt and then of the unconscious Pt. Beginning
with Chapter 1, the text then explains how to do each step.
I. INTRODUCTION
A. How the history guides the examination
The primary role of the examination becomes the testing of hypotheses derived from the history.
—William Landau, MD
1. You complete much of the NE during the history (Videos OSN 1-4). Assess the Pt’s word articulation,
content of speech, and overall mental status. Inspect the facial features. Inspect the eye movements,
blinking, and the relation of the palpebral fissures to the iris and look for en or exophthalmos. Inspect
the degree of facial movement and expression and note any asymmetry. Observe how the Pt swallows
saliva and breathes. Inspect the posture and look for tremors and involuntary movements.
Video OSN-2. Patient with Jacksonian seizures secondary to brain metastases (see also 14.3).
Video OSN-3. A young patient with migrainous events misdiagnosed as stroke (stroke mimic) and treated with intravenous tissue
plasminogen activator (tPA) in two separate occasions.
Video OSN-4. Post-ganglionic right Horner due to extracranial right internal carotid artery dissection in a patient with an incidental,
unruptured, right temporal cavernous malformation.
2. Although you must do a minimum basic NE on every Pt, the history and preliminary observations focus
attention on specific systems: motor or sensory systems, cranial nerves (CrNs), or cerebral functions. If
the history suggests a spinal level lesion, successively test each dermatome for a sensory level and test
the perianal region for loss or preservation of sacral sensation. If the history suggests a cerebral lesion,
emphasize tests for memory, aphasia, apraxia, and agnosia.
3. Reproduce any circumstances, as discovered during the history, that trigger or aggravate symptoms:
a. Dizziness when standing up: check for orthostatic hypotension.
b. Episodic numbness and tingling in the extremities, syncope, or suspected epilepsy: Ask the Pt to
hyperventilate.
c. Weakness in climbing stairs: watch the Pt climb stairs.
d. Trouble swallowing: give the Pt liquids and solids to swallow.
e. Pathologic fatigability, particularly of CrN muscles: have the Pt make repetitive eye movements and
measure the width of the palpebral fissure at rest and following 1 minute of upward gaze.
1. Flexible steel measuring tape scored Measuring occipitofrontal and body circumferences, size of skin lesions, length of
inmetric units extremities, etc.
2. Stethoscope Auscultation over the neck vessels, eyes, and cranium for bruits
3. Flashlight Pupillary reflexes, inspection of pharynx, and transillumination of the head of infants
5. Ophthalmoscope Examining ocular media and fundi and skin surface for beads of sweat
6. Tongue blades Three per Pt: one for depressing tongue, one for eliciting a gag reflex, and one
broken longitudinally for eliciting abdominal and plantar reflexes
7. Opaque vial of coffee grounds* Testing sense of smell
10. Tuning fork Testing vibratory sensation and hearing (256 cps recommended) and temperature
discrimination
11. 10 cc syringe Caloric irrigation of the ear
12. Cotton tip applicator A wisp of cotton pulled from the applicator for eliciting the corneal reflex and
testing light touch
13. Two stoppered tubes Testing hot and cold discrimination
16. Penny, nickel, dime, key, paper clip, and Testing for astereognosis
safety pin
17. Blood pressure cuff Routine blood pressure and orthostatic hypotension
*or standardized olfactory testing
**or standard taste test
D. Content of thought
Does the Pt correctly perceive reality or have illusions, hallucinations, delusions, misinterpretations,
and obsessions? Is the Pt preoccupied with bodily complaints, fears of cancer or heart disease, or
other phobias? Does the Pt suffer delusions of persecution, surveillance, and control by malicious
persons or forces?
E. Intellectual capacity
Is the Pt bright, average, dull, or obviously demented or suffer from an intellectual disability?
F. Sensorium
1. Consciousness
2. Attention span
3. Orientation for time, place, and person
4. Memory, recent and remote
5. Calculation
6. Fund of information
7. Insight, judgment, and planning
B. Dysarthria
Difficulty in articulating the individual sounds or the units (phonemes) of speech, the f’s, r’s, g’s,
vowels, consonants, labials (CrN VII), gutturals (CrN X), and linguals (CrN XII).
C. Dysprosody
Difficulty with the melody and rhythm of speech, the accent of syllables, the inflections, intonations,
and pitch of the voice.
D. Dysphasia
Difficulty in expressing or understanding words as the symbols of communication.
B. Palpate
For mature Pts, palpate the skull for lumps, depressions, or tenderness and palpate the temporal
arteries. For infants, look for asymmetries palpate the fontanelles and sutures and record the
occipitofrontal circumference.
C. Auscultate
For bruits over the neck vessels, eyes, temples, and mastoid processes.
D. Transilluminate
Attempt to transilluminate the skull of young infants.
V. CRANIAL NERVES
A. Optic group
CrNs II, III, IV, and VI
1. Inspect the widths of palpebral fissures, the interorbital distance, and the relation of lid margins to
the limbus. Look for ptosis and en- or exophthalmos.
2. Visual functions: Test each eye separately for acuity (central fields) by newsprint or the Snellen
chart and test peripheral fields by confrontation. Test for inattention to simultaneous visual stimuli,
if a cerebral lesion is suspected.
3. Ocular motility: Test range of ocular movements and smoothness of pursuit as Pt’s eyes follow your
finger through all fields of gaze. During convergence, check for miosis. Do the cover-and-uncover
test. Check for nystagmus and note any effects of eye movements on it.
4. Record size of pupils. Test pupillary light reflexes.
5. Do ophthalmoscopy. Record presence or absence of venous pulsations.
B. Palpate muscles
If on inspection they seem atrophic, or hypertrophic or the history suggests tenderness or spasms
F. Percussion of muscle
Percuss the thenar eminence for percussion myotonia and test for a myotonic grip if the Pt has
generalized muscular weakness.
29.
Sinä kesänä, jolloin sinä, Yrjö, tulit ylioppilaaksi, painui tuo vieras
leima yli koko paikkakuntamme ja teki sen vielä entistään
rauhattomammaksi. Aukeamalle aseman toiselle puolelle pystytettiin
nimittäin suuri venäläinen majoitusleiri, jonka upseerit kulkivat ympäri
paikkakuntaa hakien sekä itselleen että kanslioilleen huoneistoa
asukkaiden huviloista. Silloin vilisi valkotakkisia ja pitkäsaappaisia
kaikilla teillä ja kuului vieraan kielen sorinaa. Illoin kaikui leirillä
hanurin ääni. Muistatko, Yrjö, haikeamielisiä tanssisävelmiä ja
alakuloisia venäläisiä kansanlauluja, jotka selvästi soivat
huvilallemme asti?
Äiti oli juuri ollut salin ikkunaa sulkemassa, kun verannalta ilmestyi
eteiseen neljä — viisi — seitsemän miestä — venäläisiin
upseerinpukuihin puettuna. He astuivat suoraa päätä saliin,
kursailematta tallaten saappaillaan hänen puhdasta lattiaansa ja
vaaleita mattojansa. He katselivat ilman muuta ympärillensä,
kurkistelivat keltaiseen nurkkakammioon, astuivat häikäilemättä
ruokahuoneeseen, kuin olisivat olleet kotonaan, loivat silmäyksen
tarjoiluhuoneeseen ja portaille, jotka sieltä veivät yläkertaan — ja
arvelivat, että tämä talo sopisi erinomaisesti heille. He tarvitsivat
kansliaa — ja koska eivät olleet löytäneet mitään muuta sopivaa, niin
—!
Mutta äiti vakuutti heille, että myöskin meillä oli keinomme estää,
ja ne keinot tepsisivät. Herrojen oli siis turha meidän kotiamme
tarkastaa, me emme sitä luovuttaisi, eikä heillä ollut oikeutta ottaa
sitä väkisin.
30.
Olit polkupyörämatkalla.
Maantie aleni siltaa kohti, joka vei salmen yli. Salmi leveni
tuonnempana suvannoksi, jonka rannalla oli paja. Miten tuo silta ja
tuo paja olivat sinulle tutut! Sillan kaiteessa olivat penkit, nuorten
iltahaaveilua varten. Sen alta tuli esille vene, jota tyttö souti,
nähtävästi iltalypsyltä saapuen, koska oli maitoastioita veneessä.
Veden pinta välkkyi tyynenä ja tummana korkeitten leppien varjossa,
ja joku lintunen piipotti läheisessä puussa iltaviserrystään.
Sitten oli tullut tavaksi sillan kohdalta lähestyä taloa kävellen, jos
tuli matkustavaisena pitemmän matkan päästä ja kuului perheeseen.
Monessa sukupolvessa olivat talon ylioppilaat tulleet ajaa karauttaen
kyytikärryissä tietä pitkin ja mäen törmällä hypänneet alas
kärryistään ja heiluttaneet lakkiaan tervehdykseksi. Kaikki olivat
lämmenneet nähdessään vanhan kartanon katonharjojen paistavan
esille puitten lomitse.
Siinä oli jotakin erikoista, arvelit sinä, Yrjö. Tuo taitekatto tuossa ja
päätyjen ullakkokamari-ikkunat — ja kaikki ne tarinat, joita vanha
isoäiti oli tiennyt kertoa noitten kamarien muistoista. Niissä oli
mahtanut tapahtua enemmän kuin muualla koko talossa. Nyt loisti
aurinko ikkunoihin, niin että ne punoittaen hohtivat. Eikös siinä
seisonut jokin navettakaivon luona nostamassa vettä? Ja tallirenki
tuli tallista taluttaen hevosta ja alkoi valjastaa sitä kärryjen eteen.
Silloin oli ollut paljon sukulaisia koolla. Oli luonnollista, että tässä
suvussa vallitsi yhteistunto. Kaikilla vanhoilla oli niin paljon yhteisiä
muistoja, jotka liittyivät taloon. Siellä he olivat nuorina rakastuneet ja
menneet kihloihin, ja kuinka monet häät siellä olikaan vietetty! Sitten
he olivat tulleet käymään lapsineen, ja näiden hauskimmat
lapsuuden muistot liittyivät vuorostaan vanhaan kartanoon. Nyt
tulivat jo lastenlapset ja yhä pysyi yhteenkuuluvaisuudentunne
kiinteänä. Vanhat olivat jo kuolleet aikoja sitten, mutta nuoremmissa
polvissa oli uskollisuus ja kodikas viihtyminen toistensa seurassa
säilynyt muuttumattomana.
Silloin olit sinäkin juurtunut tähän yhteiseen maaperään, ja siitä
asti olit tuntenut siihen kuuluvasi. Olit suuren suvun jäsen. Kaikki nuo
valkotukkaiset suvun vanhukset olivat ottaneet sinut vastaan oman
puunsa vesana, olivat laskeneet kätensä päälaellesi kulkiessasi
heidän ohitseen ja kiikuttaneet sinua polvellansa. Tädit olivat
avanneet sinulle kirjaillut käsilaukkunsa, ja serkut olivat nostaneet
sinut olkapäillensä ja hevosina hirnuneet sinulle laukaten ylös ja alas
rantatietä, joka vei saunaan ja uimahuoneelle.
31.
Aamulla olit tarkastanut puutarhan kukkamaita. Varmaan ne olivat
isoäidin äidin aikuisia. Siellä oli sydämenmuotoinen kukkamaa, joka
kasvoi pelkkiä lemmikkejä, puolikuunmuotoinen, jonka keskus oli
kaunokkeja ja laidoissa kasvoi nemophilaa. Kaikki kukkapenkereet
olivat näkinkenkien reunustamia, ja ne järjestettiin vuosittain samalla
tavalla.
*****
Kyllä tämä oli maa, joka vie muista maista voiton, ajattelit
itseksesi.
Jospa vain saisi olla mukana viemässä sitä eteenpäin!
— Elleivät olisi olleet niin vastassa nuo, niin sinne olisin mennyt
minäkin!
Miten olitkaan kadehtinut noita muita poikia siitä, että heillä oli
itsenäinen isänmaa!
Ja nyt!
Silloin tällöin kuului ääniä metsästä päin tai laulua sillan kohdalta.
32.
Mutta nyt sinua väsytti. Sinua väsytti niin että jalat olivat lyijyn
raskaat. Mielelläsi olisit hiukan lepäillyt, mutta päivä oli määrätty,
jolloin sinun piti ruveta harjoittelijaksi tehtaaseen, eikä täsmälleen
saapumista nyt saanut mikään estää. Olihan sinulla muutamien
vuorokausien huoahdus välillä, ja se sai riittää, sillä ethän sinä
omasta mielestäsi ollut lainkaan rasittunut. Väsymyksesi ei
merkinnyt mitään ja minäkin luulin sen olevan vain ohimenevää
raukeutta pitkän pyöräilymatkan jälkeen.