We studied the gait of a woman who was normal except for surgical
excision of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles. She was able to
compensate for nearly all of her abnormalites of gait by excessive lateral
pelvic tilt and prolonged quadriceps activity. Her mild disability, as
regards gait, consisted of inability to increase walking speeds beyond the
normal pacing. However, despite uneven step lengths, she had uniform
forward progression. She had excessive dorsiflexion of the ankle and
diminished plantar flexion on the involved side even though the retained
plantar flexors could provide 38 per cent of her normal plantar flexor
strength.