PURPOSE: The main objective of this study was to verify, in one hundred in-patients from the Serviço de Clínica Médica do Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro who did not have a history of clinical symptoms of pyramidal disfunction, the presence of the Babinski and Chaddock signs. As a secondary objective, we looked for a prevalence of one of the signs over the other, and the influence of the head position regarding the obtained responses. METHOD: The patients were examined while supine with their heads in three different positions. RESULTS: Out of the one hundred patients, ten of them (10%) showed hallux extension uni or bilateral. The Babinski sign was positive 18 times (40%), and the Chaddock sign was positive 27 times (60%). CONCLUSION: The Chaddock sign occurred more frequently than the Babinski sign, the abnormal reflex occurred twice as much on the left foot than the right, and apparently there was no interference regarding the head position in relation to the obtained results.
Babinski sign; Chaddock sign; pyramidal tract
