Moritz Heinrich Romberg (11 November 1795 – 16 June 1873) was a German physician and neurologist, born in Meiningen, who published his classic textbook in sections between 1840 and 1846;

Edward Henry Sieveking Sir Edward Henry Sieveking (24 August 1816 – 24 February 1904) was an English physician. Life Sieveking was born in Bishopsgate, London. He studied medicine at the University of Berlin under eminent physiologist Johannes Peter Muller, and als ...

translated it into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

in 1853. His nephew was

Eduard Heinrich Henoch Eduard Heinrich Henoch (June 16, 1820 Berlin – August 26, 1910) was a German physician. He taught at the Berlin University (1868–1894). Henoch was of Jewish descent, and was the nephew of Moritz Heinrich Romberg. Work After taking th ...

, who was known for describing

Henoch–Schönlein purpura Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP), also known as IgA vasculitis, is a disease of the skin, mucous membranes, and sometimes other organs that most commonly affects children. In the skin, the disease causes palpable purpura (small, raised areas of bl ...

. He described what is now universally recognised as "

Romberg's sign Romberg's test, Romberg's sign, or the Romberg maneuver is a test used in an exam of neurological function for balance, and also as a test for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. The exam is based on the premise that a person requires ...

" in his original account of

tabes dorsalis Tabes dorsalis is a late consequence of neurosyphilis, characterized by the slow degeneration (specifically, demyelination) of the neural tracts primarily in the dorsal root ganglia of the spinal cord (nerve root). These patients have lancinating n ...

(a disease caused by

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

damaging the back of the spinal cord). He related early symptoms as: "''The feet feel numbed in standing, walking or lying down, and the patient has the sensation as if they were covered in fur; the resistance of the ground is not felt...''" Romberg's sign he described as: ''"The

gait Gait is the pattern of movement of the limbs of animals, including humans, during locomotion over a solid substrate. Most animals use a variety of gaits, selecting gait based on speed, terrain, the need to maneuver, and energetic efficiency. Di ...

begins to be insecure... he puts down his feet with greater force...The individual keeps his eyes on his feet to prevent his movements from becoming still more unsteady. If he is ordered to close his eyes while in the erect posture, he at once commences to totter and swing from side to side; the insecurity of his gait also exhibits itself more in the dark."'' Romberg had not observed this in other paralyses. The unsteadiness with eyes closed (

sensory ataxia Sensory ataxia is both a symptom and a sign in neurology. It is a form of ataxia (loss of coordination) caused not by cerebellar dysfunction but by loss of sensory input into the control of movement. Sensory ataxia is distinguished from cerebel ...

), relates to loss of sense of position in the legs and feet that are normally compensated for by the patient who uses vision to provide that information. But when the eyes are closed or in the dark, the loss of sense of position causes unsteadiness and sometimes falls, as Romberg described. He was one of a tiny number of truly innovative neurologists in Europe who in the 1820-50 period introduced order and clinical observation and deduction into what was then an elementary discipline. He is credited with having been "the first clinical neurologist". According to Pearce, Romberg acquired much of the wisdom and attitudes prevailing in English medicine when in 1820 he translated into German, Andrew Marshall's (1742–1813) ''The Morbid Anatomy of the Brain'' and

Charles Bell Sir Charles Bell (12 November 177428 April 1842) was a Scotland, Scottish surgeon, anatomist, physiologist, neurologist, artist, and philosophical theologian. He is noted for discovering the difference between sensory nerves and motor nerves in ...

’s ''The Nervous System of the Human Body''. He revolutionised European neurology, publishing his ''Lehrbuch der Nervenkrankheiten des Menschen'': the first systematic textbook in neurology. Romberg’s contribution to neurology, and his establishing

as a distinctive disease were of crucial importance. Romberg’s sign, once synonymous with tabes dorsalis, became recognised as common to all proprioceptive disorders of the legs. His several major clinical contributions included: a classic description of

achondroplasia Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance whose primary feature is dwarfism. In those with the condition, the arms and legs are short, while the torso is typically of normal length. Those affected ha ...

(on which he wrote his graduation thesis entitled "Congenital rickets" in 1817), progressive facial hemiatrophy, and an unmistakable description of the pupils in

tertiary syphilis Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

before E.J. Remak and Argyll Robertson.

References

External links

Jewish Encyclopedia ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...

J.M.S. Pearce: Romberg and His Sign
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romberg, Moritz Heinrich 1795 births 1873 deaths 18th-century German Jews German neurologists Jewish physicians Physicians of the Charité

See also

References

External links