title: The pterygoid reflex in man and its clinical application.
abstract: A technique for eliciting and recording the stretch reflex (R) of the medial pterygoid muscle (Pter) is described. The latency was 6.9 +/- 0.43 ms in 23 healthy volunteers (mean age 23.7 years) showing a side-to-side difference of 0.29 +/- 0.21 ms. The PterR latencies were little shorter and side-to-side differences little greater than of the masseter reflex. Observations in 5 selected patients with small brainstem lesions suggest that the neurons of the PterR afferents form a cluster within the caudal portion of the trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus. Testing the masseter and pterygoid reflexes provides a more precise localization of small ponto-mesencephalic lesions.
authors: Neurologische Universitätsklinik, University of Mainz, Germany.
authors: H C
authors: HC
authors: Hopf
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Ellrich
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Hundemer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004568:Electrodiagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008406:Masseter Muscle / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011149:Pons / Q000503:physiopathology; D011626:Pterygoid Muscles / Q000502:physiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012026:Reflex, Stretch / Q000502:physiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014275:Trigeminal Caudal Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology