Queckenstedt sign Queckenstedt test (kwek´en-stet″) when the veins in the neck are compressed on one or both sides, in healthy persons there is a rapid rise in the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid, which returns quickly to normal when pressure is taken off the neck. When there is a block in the vertebral canal the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid is affected little or not at all by this maneuver.