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March 12, 2013; 80 (11) Video NeuroImages

Chvostek sign, frequently found in healthy subjects, is not a useful clinical sign

Aurélie Méneret, Stéphanie Guey, Bertrand Degos
First published March 11, 2013, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0b013e31828728bc
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A healthy, 26-year-old resident (video) presented with a bilateral Chvostek sign. This finding prompted us to search for the sign in young healthy subjects in our ward, mainly residents and medical students. We found this sign in 6 of 11 subjects.

Chvostek sign is considered to be evidence of neuromuscular hyperexcitability, and is seen as a sign of hypocalcemia. However, studies found that 25% of healthy individuals (43% between the ages of 20 and 29 years) have a positive Chvostek sign,1 and 29% of patients with hypocalcemia do not.2 Our findings emphasize that it should not be considered as a clinical sign.

Footnotes

  • Supplemental data at www.neurology.org

  • Author contributions: Aurélie Méneret: drafting/revising the manuscript, analysis or interpretation of data. Stéphanie Guey: study concept or design, analysis or interpretation of data. Bertrand Degos: drafting/revising the manuscript, study concept or design, analysis or interpretation of data, acquisition of data, study supervision.

  • Study funding: No targeted funding reported.

  • Disclosure: A. Méneret received research grants from AP-HP and JNLF, and received travel funding from ANAINF, JNLF, and the European Federation of the Neurological Societies. S. Guey reports no disclosures. B. Degos received travel funding from Novartis and Ipsen. Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures.

References

  1. 1.↵
    1. Hoffman E
    . The Chvostek sign: a clinical study. Am J Surg 1958;96:33–37.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
  2. 2.↵
    1. Fonseca OA,
    2. Calverley JR
    . Neurological manifestations of hypoparathyroidism. Arch Intern Med 1967;120:202–206.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed

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