Author:
Baker Mark R, ,Williams Timothy L,Larner AJ, ,
Abstract
Few Neurologists will be unfamiliar with referral letters stating that the patient has “Rhomberg’s sign” or some “mild rhombergism” (capitalisation variable), a particularly irritating misnomer for the pedants among us. As Henry Higgins the fictional Professor of Phonetics [1] observed: ‘Does the same thing hold true in India, Pickering? Is there the peculiar habit of not only dropping a letter like the letter “h”, but using it where it doesn’t belong, like “hever” instead of “ever”?’ My Fair Lady – Act 1, Scene 5, p58 [1]. Or Rhomberg instead of Romberg! So, who was “Rhomberg,” and what did he describe?
Reference19 articles.
1. Lerner AJ, Loewe F. My Fair Lady - A Musical Play in Two Acts Based on Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. Published by Signet Books, The New American Library of World Literature, Inc. 501 Madison Avenue, New York 1958
2. Schiffter R. Moritz Heinrich Romberg (1795-1873). J Neurol 2010;257:1409-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-010-5552-1
3. Housman B, Bellary SS, Walters A, Mirzayan N, Tubbs RS, Loukas M. Moritz Heinrich Romberg (1795-1873): early founder of neurology. Clin Anat. 2014;27:147-9. ttps://doi.org/10.1002/ca.22112
4. Pearce JM. Romberg and his sign. Eur Neurol 2005;53:210-3. https://doi.org/10.1159/000086732
5. Romberg MH, Henoch EH. Affection of the Heart, Thyroid Gland, and Eyeballs. Edinb Med Surg J. 1854;81:423-7.