Erb's Palsy

Abstract

ERB'S description of paralysis of the upper portion of the brachial plexus is remembered mainly for its postscript. As an after-thought to his discussion, Erb noted that birth trauma is one of the causes of such paralysis, and the term Erb's (or more properly Duchenne-Erb's) palsy now usually refers to this phenomenon. Wilhelm Heinrich Erb (1840 to 1921) was the foremost German neurologist of his time and the first neurologist to wield a reflex hammer.¹His original account of the tendon reflexes²advanced the art of neurologic diagnosis and was a great stimulus to physiologic research. Erb also pioneered in applying electrodiagnosis and electrotherapy to neurology, and it was he who first described the "reaction of degeneration" of muscle.³Not the least of Erb's accomplishments was his successful campaign to introduce neurologic instruction into the curriculum at Heidelberg.⁴He thus gained a place