The pterygoid reflex in man and its clinical application

A technique for eliciting and recording the stretch reflex (R) of the medial pterygoid muscle (Pter) is described. The latency was 6.9 +/- 0.43 ms in 23 healthy volunteers (mean age 23.7 years) showing a side-to-side difference of 0.29 +/- 0.21 ms. The PterR latencies were little shorter and side-to-side differences little greater than of the masseter reflex. Observations in 5 selected patients with small brainstem lesions suggest that the neurons of the PterR afferents form a cluster within the caudal portion of the trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus. Testing the masseter and pterygoid reflexes provides a more precise localization of small ponto-mesencephalic lesions.