Question:medium
Identify the condition shown in the image below:
Identify the condition shown in the image below:
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Buffalo hump on the foot dorsum and skin you cannot pinch over the toes.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Chronic lymphedema
- Cushing syndrome
- Osteoporosis
- None
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
One sign seals it: Stemmer's sign. If you cannot pinch up a fold of skin over the base of the second toe because the subcutaneous tissue is fibrosed, the swelling is lymphoedema, not ordinary oedema. Pair that with the buffalo-hump fullness on the dorsum of the foot, the lost submalleolar hollows, and the squared-off toes, and the diagnosis is chronic lymphedema.
Why the distractors fail: Cushing syndrome gives central obesity, moon face, a dorsocervical fat pad on the neck and abdominal striae, a whole-body endocrine picture, not an isolated foot. Osteoporosis is a silent bone-density problem that does not change the soft-tissue contour of the foot at all. 'None' is wrong because there is a clear, named condition.
So the constellation of buffalo hump, square toes, lost ankle contour and a positive Stemmer's sign is chronic lymphoedema of the foot. Ref: Bailey & Love, 27th ed.
Why the distractors fail: Cushing syndrome gives central obesity, moon face, a dorsocervical fat pad on the neck and abdominal striae, a whole-body endocrine picture, not an isolated foot. Osteoporosis is a silent bone-density problem that does not change the soft-tissue contour of the foot at all. 'None' is wrong because there is a clear, named condition.
So the constellation of buffalo hump, square toes, lost ankle contour and a positive Stemmer's sign is chronic lymphoedema of the foot. Ref: Bailey & Love, 27th ed.
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