ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Extensor toe signs are neurologic abnormal finding in upper motor neuron impairment, such as spastic diplegia in cerebral palsy. Though classic Babinski sign is widely used, many other methods elicit extensor toe signs are used as substitutes. However, these methods are not tried whether they are clinically valuable or not. So, we carried out these methods to spastic cerebral palsy patients, compared the sensitivities of these extensor toe sign tests and estimated their clinical value. METHODS: From April, 2000 to August, 2001, thirty patients who had been diagnosed spastic cerebral palsy at Chungnam National University Hospital were tested for extensor toe signs at restful supine position. The sensitivity of every extensor toe sign was compared with each other. RESULTS: The sensitivity of Babinski sign is 76%, Gonda-Allen sign 86%, Allen- Cleckley sign 63%, Chaddock sign 63%, Oppenheim sign 50%, Gordon sign 22% and the others less than twenty percent. Although the sensitivity of Gonda-Allen sign is higher than Babinski sign, it is not statistically significant. But these two methods are superior than the others. CONCLUSION: In patients having upper motor neuron impairments, Gonda-Allen sign and classical Babinski sign are more useful and more sensitive than the other tests, which elicit of extensor toe signs.