Which condition is associated with a Gowers sign (child uses arms to stand up)?

Which condition is associated with a Gowers sign (child uses arms to stand up)?

• A. Becker muscular dystrophy
• B. Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• C. Myotonic dystrophy
• D. Spinal muscular atrophy

Answer: (B)

Gowers sign reflects weakness of the proximal muscles around the hips and thighs, so a child has to push up with the arms to stand from the floor. This pattern is most classically seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a childhood X-linked dystrophinopathy where rapid proximal muscle weakness begins early in life. The inability to rise using the legs alone leads to the characteristic climb from the floor with the hands and arms. Becker muscular dystrophy can show a similar sign but later and more slowly; myotonic dystrophy features myotonia and typically distal weakness, and spinal muscular atrophy presents with proximal weakness too but the classic association of Gowers sign is with Duchenne. Therefore, Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the condition most associated with this sign.

Gowers sign reflects weakness of the proximal muscles around the hips and thighs, so a child has to push up with the arms to stand from the floor. This pattern is most classically seen in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a childhood X-linked dystrophinopathy where rapid proximal muscle weakness begins early in life. The inability to rise using the legs alone leads to the characteristic climb from the floor with the hands and arms. Becker muscular dystrophy can show a similar sign but later and more slowly; myotonic dystrophy features myotonia and typically distal weakness, and spinal muscular atrophy presents with proximal weakness too but the classic association of Gowers sign is with Duchenne. Therefore, Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the condition most associated with this sign.