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Kocher's sign
System: Hormone & Metabolic Signs · All hormone & metabolic signs
What it is — and how it is elicited
When the patient looks upward, the eyeball moves up faster than the upper eyelid, briefly showing a band of white sclera (a form of lid retraction).
What a positive finding suggests
Associated with thyroid eye disease (Graves' ophthalmopathy).
◈ Behind the name
Emil Theodor Kocher (1841–1917), Swiss surgeon and Nobel laureate for his work on the thyroid.
Related signs — Hormone & Metabolic Signs
Browse the K section of the A–Z list or return to the Clinical Signs hub.
Please note: This page is an educational reference about clinical examination signs. A clinical sign supports — and never replaces — a full clinical evaluation, examination and appropriate testing. A sign being present does not by itself prove a diagnosis, and an absent sign does not rule one out. If you have symptoms that worry you, see a health professional.