Romberg's Sign
in Multiple Sclerosis
The Romberg Test
Romberg's Sign is not a condition in itself. It is a test devised by the 19th century German Ear Specialist, Moritz Heinrich Romberg (1795-1873). It is a test used in connection with balance problems with a lack of visual feedback. Associated with neurological conditions or problems with the inner ear.
The patient may exhibit poor balance when the eyes are closed. This could involve swaying or falling or the inability to recover when given a small push.
Feedback about the body's balance comes, primarily, from the inner ear, but also from visual feedback from the eyes and positional feedback from the proprioceptive sensors in the muscles and limb joints.
All of this feedback is sent to the cerebellum, the area of the brain that assimilates all of the sensory information.
Any problems revealed by the test are indicative of a separate underlying problem such as vertigo, vestibular ataxia or cerebellar ataxia.
This is, suddenly, very clear as my physiotherapist carried out these tests quite extensively during my evaluation a few years ago, and I failed them dismally.
References:
Multiple
Sclerosis Encyclopaedia
Pub Med
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