Gowers's sign is a
medical sign that indicates
weakness of the
proximal
Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...
muscle
Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscl ...
s, namely those of the
lower limb. The sign describes a patient that has to use their hands and arms to "walk" up their own body from a
squatting position
Squatting is a versatile posture where the weight of the body is on the feet but the knees and hips are bent. In contrast, sitting involves taking the weight of the body, at least in part, on the buttocks against the ground or a horizontal object. ...
due to lack of hip and thigh muscle strength.
It is named after
William Richard Gowers
Sir William Richard Gowers (; 20 March 1845 – 4 May 1915) was a British neurologist, described by Macdonald Critchley in 1949 as "probably the greatest clinical neurologist of all time". He practised at the National Hospital for the Paral ...
.
[W. R. Gowers. A manual of the nervous system. Philadelphia; 2nd edition, volume 1, 1895.]
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Associations
Gowers's sign is classically seen in
Duchenne muscular dystrophy where it is mostly evident at 4–6 years, but also presents itself in
centronuclear myopathy,
myotonic dystrophy and various other conditions associated with proximal muscle weakness, including
Becker muscular dystrophy
Becker muscular dystrophy is an X-linked recessive inherited disorder characterized by slowly progressing muscle weakness of the legs and pelvis. It is a type of dystrophinopathy. This is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene, which encodes ...
,
dermatomyositis and
Pompe disease
Glycogen storage disease type II, also called Pompe disease, is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder which damages muscle and nerve cells throughout the body. It is caused by an accumulation of glycogen in the lysosome due to deficiency of th ...
. For this maneuver, the patient is placed on the floor away from any objects that could otherwise be used to pull oneself to a standing position. It is also used in testing paraplegia.
See also
*
Spinal muscular atrophy
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disorder that results in the loss of motor neurons and progressive muscle wasting. It is usually diagnosed in infancy or early childhood and if left untreated it is the most common genetic ...
References
Symptoms and signs: musculoskeletal system
Muscular dystrophy
Symptoms and signs: Nervous system
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