Gowers sign is a clinical finding most consistent with which condition?

• A. Polio
• B. Myasthenia gravis
• C. Guillain-Barré syndrome
• D. Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Answer: (D)

Gowers sign indicates proximal weakness of the hip girdle muscles. When a child with this pattern tries to rise from the floor, they can’t rely on hip and thigh muscles alone, so they place their hands on the thighs and push up to stand—a climbing motion up the legs. This compensatory maneuver is most characteristic of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, where progressive proximal muscle weakness begins in early childhood due to dystrophin deficiency, often with calf pseudohypertrophy and a rising CK level.

While other conditions can cause weakness, they don’t typically produce this specific rise-from-the-floor pattern. Myasthenia gravis features fatigable weakness with fluctuating symptoms and often eye or bulbar involvement; Guillain-Barré syndrome presents with acute, ascending weakness and areflexia; polio causes flaccid paralysis but the distinctive Gowers maneuver points more toward Duchenne.