Duroziez Sign

DUROZIEZ SIGN (Duroziez), a sign described by D. in 1891, characteristic of insufficiency of the aortic valves (Romberg considers that this phenomenon was first described by Da Costa Alvarengo). With gradual compression of the femoral artery with a stethoscope, at a certain degree of pressure, in addition to the normal compression systolic murmur, a second, much weaker, diastolic murmur is heard. With further increase in pressure on the artery, instead of a double murmur, a single or double tone appears. Finding the necessary degree of artery compression in each individual case requires considerable patience. Sometimes this double murmur is heard on the brachial artery and at the bend of the elbow. The appearance of the second murmur is due to the fact that during diastole of the left ventricle, the reverse flow of blood from the aorta into the left ventricle in case of insufficiency of the aortic valves causes a sharp decrease in pressure in the section of the bloodstream between the heart and the compressed point and reverse flow of blood into this section from the periphery. The Duroziez double murmur must be distinguished from the Traube double tone, also sometimes heard in insufficiency of the aortic valves, if the stethoscope is applied to the femoral artery without pressure. The diagnostic value of the Duroziez sign is not very great. In insufficiency of the aortic valves, it is determined only when there is a sharply expressed pulsus celer. Usually, in this case, the diagnosis can be made on the basis of inspection, percussion, and auscultation of the heart. On the other hand, the Duroziez double murmur is also observed in other diseases accompanied by pulsus celer (aortic aneurysm, morbus Basedowi, etc.).