A 5-year-old presents with a drop-foot gait and lifts the leg to clear the toes. Which condition is most consistent?

A 5-year-old presents with a drop-foot gait and lifts the leg to clear the toes. Which condition is most consistent?

• A. Duchenne muscular dystrophy
• B. Becker muscular dystrophy
• C. Chronic sensorimotor neuropathy
• D. Myasthenia gravis

Answer: (C)

A foot drop gait signals weakness of the ankle dorsiflexors, causing a high-stepping walk to clear the toes. This pattern points to a distal motor-sensory problem affecting the peroneal/dorsiflexor muscles, which fits a chronic sensorimotor neuropathy. In contrast, Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy produce proximal, not distal, weakness with early pelvic-girdle involvement and characteristic signs like Gowers’ maneuver and calf pseudohypertrophy. Myasthenia gravis causes fatigable weakness that fluctuates and often involves ocular or bulbar muscles rather than a isolated, persistent foot-drop gait. So the distal neuropathic process best explains the presentation.

A foot drop gait signals weakness of the ankle dorsiflexors, causing a high-stepping walk to clear the toes. This pattern points to a distal motor-sensory problem affecting the peroneal/dorsiflexor muscles, which fits a chronic sensorimotor neuropathy. In contrast, Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophy produce proximal, not distal, weakness with early pelvic-girdle involvement and characteristic signs like Gowers’ maneuver and calf pseudohypertrophy. Myasthenia gravis causes fatigable weakness that fluctuates and often involves ocular or bulbar muscles rather than a isolated, persistent foot-drop gait. So the distal neuropathic process best explains the presentation.