Beevor's sign

The Beevor sign is a clinical sign of muscle weakness of the lower abdominal muscles. It was named after the neurologist Charles Edward Beevor ( 1854-1908 ).

When getting up from a lying position without using the arms it comes with bilateral weakness of the lower abdominal muscles to a shift in the belly button towards the head ( cranial direction ). With only one-sided paralysis of the lower abdominal muscles however, it does to a shift of the belly button to the healthy side.

A weakness of the lower abdominal muscles typically occurs at a lesion of the spinal nerves of the segments Th 6 to Th 10. Also in the fazioskapulohumeralen muscular dystrophy ( FSHD ), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ( ALS) can be positive the Beevor sign.